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Leave policies for working parents are today widespread among affluent countries, and are required by law in the member states of the European Union. This article reviews leave policies (maternity, paternity, and parental leaves as well as leave to care for sick children) in a wide range of countries, both within and outside the EU, highlighting the main similarities and differences and identifying directions discernible in recent policy developments. It then scopes the knowledge base on the use, practice and impact of leave policies and analyzes why leave policies vary so greatly between countries. The article concludes with a discussion of future challenges and directions for policy and research. KEYWORDS. Cross-national, maternity leave, parental employment, parental leave

This article provides an overview of statutory leave arrangements in the European Union (EU), Central European countries, and Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the USA. It concludes with a brief review of recent parental leave research, and by considering future directions for policy and research. Paid maternity leave and paid or unpaid parental leave are now available throughout EuropeߞWestern, Central and Eastern. Paternity leave has an increasing presence, but so far exists in only a minority of European countries. Except for Canada, leave policy in the four non-European countries lags behind Europe. Recent policy developments in the EU have been mainly in paternity and parental leave, with an emphasis on fathers. Nearly all countries remain far behind Sweden, which has the most effective leave policy for parents. Looking ahead, there is a need to adopt a holistic approach both in research and policy, for example understanding decision making as a complex process involving many influences and relationships and locating leave arrangements within a 'total policy package'. Future policy needs to move beyond a narrow focus on early parenthood to adopt a broader, life-course approach to increasing management of the use of time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parallel analyses of recent data from the United States, Thailand, Belgium, and Japan all confirm the finding that female age and not male age is the more important contributor to the decline in frequency of marital intercourse during the childbearing ages. The most probable explanation is the decline in female (but not male) androgen levels during the age span examined. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]