EXCERPTS from the Introduction
The International Network on Leave Policies and Research has been producing an annual review of leave policies and related research since 2005. The review covers Maternity, Paternity and Parental leaves; leave to care for sick children and other employment-related measures to support working parents; and early childhood education and care policy.
The review is based on country notes from each participating country, prepared by members of the network and edited by several of the network’s coordinators. Each country note follows a standard format: details of different types of leave; the relationship between leave policy and early childhood education and care policy; recent policy developments; information on take-up of leave.
The review also includes definitions of the main types of leave policies; and cross-country comparisons. These comparative overviews cover: each main type of leave; the relationship between leave and ECEC entitlements; and policy changes and developments since the previous review. For the first time this year, we also include a technical appendix.
The 2019 review includes two new countries: Chile and Cyprus. Altogether, it covers 45 countries. These are: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Israel, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States of America, and Uruguay.