2nd only to Ireland in total fertility, Sweden has the highest total fertility (TFR) and female labor force participation rates (FLFPR) among European countries in the late 1980s and early 1990s. 1988 TFR and FLFPR were 1.96 and 80.1%, respectively. This paper considers the role of public policy in creating this unique trend, with particular focus on family leave policy. In 1974, Sweden beca...

In the context of high and rising rates of parental employment in Australia, we investigated whether poor quality jobs (without security, control, flexibility or paid family leave) could pose a health risk to employed parents' children. We examined the extent to which both mothers' and fathers' jobs matter, and whether disadvantaged children are more vulnerable than others. Multiple regression ...

Although parental leave has long formed part of traditional labor relations, it was not until the nineteen seventies that it began to be regarded in some Scandinavian countries as a way ofi balancing work and family life as well as of enhancing gender equality (Duvander, Lappegard, and Andersson 2010; Escobedo, Flaquer, and Navarro, 2012; Lappegard, 2008), That egalitarian aspiration was consol...

OBJECTIVES Two thirds of Canadian adults participate in the workforce. Their health and that of their families can be markedly affected by the availability of paid sick leave, paid leave to care for family members' health and paid parental leave. METHODS We gathered data from all Canadian provinces and territories on these essential leave policies and compared Canadian policies with data coll...

Does Parental Leave Affect Fertility and Return-to-Work? Evidence from a “True Natural Experiment” We study the causal effects of changes in parental leave provisions on fertility and return-towork behavior. We exploit a policy change that took place in 1990 in Austria which extended the maximum duration of parental leave from the child’s first to the child’s second birthday. As parental leave ...