Featuring contributions from leading international scholars of social policy, this dynamic Research Handbook provides a comprehensive overview of conceptual and methodological developments in leave policy research, as well as state-of-the-art findings on leave policy determinants and outcomes globally. The topic of inequality is placed at the centre of the Research Handbook, to strengthen the global debate and encourage broader thinking about the interconnections between leave policy design and social inequalities. Chapters illustrate the continued relevance of this correlation in the context of gendered care and employment practices, precarious, underinsured, and nonstandard employment, informal economies, migration, family changes, and growing financial strains for parents. Using parental leave policy as an empirical lens to further our understanding of the intersectional nature of social inequalities, the editors ultimately consider whether there is a case to reconfigure leave policy as a social right. This incisive Research Handbook will be essential reading for a multi-disciplinary audience of students and scholars of social policy, family studies, gender studies, sociology, social work, and public policy. Its evaluation of cutting-edge developments in leave policy will also benefit national and international policy makers, as well as HR leaders interested in parenting leave best practice.

This volume brings together contributors from 18 countries to provide international perspectives on the politics of parental leave policies in different parts of the world. Initially looking at the politics of care leave policies in eight countries across Europe, the US, Latin America and Asia, the book moves on to consider a variety of key issues in depth, including gender equality, flexibility and challenges for fathers in using leave. In the final section of the book, contributors look beyond the early parenthood period to consider possible future directions for care leave policy in order to address the wider changes and challenges that our societies face.