Labor and the Coalition have announced their parental leave policies. If you are planning to have children, you should be familiar with what they’re offering.
Current parental leave schemes reinforce old gender stereotypes and the pay gap between women and men. Overseas experience shows better targeted leave for new fathers helps everyone.
Caring for a newborn can be joyous.
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You might expect progressive policies in our universities, but a parental leave system of primary and secondary caregivers – the first 93% women, the second 96% men – perpetuates the gender gap.
Most U.S. parents who take time off work to tend to newborns currently use unpaid leave.
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If governments are looking for a post-pandemic “baby boom” to help populations grow, then they should increase the amount and duration of paid parental leave for both mums and partners.
Breast milk contains ingredients in concentrations that change over the course of the day. Researchers think milk is chrononutrition, carrying molecular messages to help set a baby’s internal clock.
Protected time for new families could pay health dividends later.
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Darby Saxbe, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
The transition to parenthood comes with plenty of stress. A psychology researcher suggests that paid family leave could help lift some of the burden – with positive health benefits down the road.
Bring your baby to work day?
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If President Trump follows through on his campaign promise, new mothers may soon have six weeks of guaranteed paid leave. But something is keeping them from using the benefits they already have.
In times of budgetary constraint, the cost of Australia's welfare system has been regarded by many in the Coalition as a drag on economic growth. Labor's Jenny Macklin has a different take.
Even Australia’s relatively short paid parental leave scheme benefits women’s health. But will proposed changes undermine that?
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Australian government proposals to ban so-called “double dipping” with paid parental leave (PPL) risks scaling back health benefits for women who take time off to care for their babies.
Family policies are about ensuring children get a good start in life.
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South African law requires surrogate mothers to hand infants to their legal parents without undue delay. But it doesn’t provide leave for these parents to care for their infants. That is set to change.