1. International overview of fathers and leave based on 2012 review Peter Moss Institute of Education University of London 1

2. Past Maternity leave (Germany, 1883) Childcare leave (Hungary, 1967) Parental leave (Sweden, 1976) Paternity leave (?, ?)  Common pattern: ML+PL+Pat L But some recent developments 2

3. Past From three leaves to single Parental leave with quotas for mothers and fathers and family, e.g. Iceland, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Sweden ‘Maternity’ leave for fathers, e.g. Czech Republic, Poland, Spain, UK Compulsory Paternity leave in Portugal 3

4. Present (33 countries in 2012 review) Paternity leave (usually paid and c.2 weeks): – 16/25 European countries; 2/8 others+Quebec Parental leave – 24/25 European countries; 5/8 others But how does Parental leave treat fathers? – European countries (24): individual entitlement – 10; bonus – 3; both – 4; neither – 7 – Other countries (5): individual entitlement – 1; neither - 4 4

5. Present Importance of ‘well-paid’  ‘father only’ leave ‘Father only’ leave – 22/25 European countries...1 month to 3 years, median=3.6 months – 2/8 other countries + Quebec...0.25-1.2 months ‘Well paid’  ‘father only’ leave – 15/25 European countries...2 days to 7.9 months, median = 0.5 months (4 have 2 months+) – 0/8 other countries; Quebec = 0.7-1.2 months 5

6. Future Is there any longer a case for ‘gendered’ leaves as represented by Maternity and Paternity leave? Or should they be replaced be a single Parental leave, with equal quotas for women and men? (Do reproductive biological differences between women and men justify, on health and welfare grounds, a separate leave just for women - a Maternity leave? Or is this needlessly damaging to women’s economic and social opportunities, encouraging discrimination?) 6

7. Future Will we improve the design of leave policies? Leave design matters: bad design (e.g. France, UK) ensures fathers do not use leave; good design (e.g. Iceland) leads to substantial but not equal take up 7

8. Future Can the focus on Parental leave distract from the larger issue? The need to re-think and re- form the relationship of care, employment and gender over the lifecourse  more equality in family care and formal care services, for young and old How do we avert a crisis of care? 8