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Comparing the availability of paid parental leave for same-sex and different-sex couples in 34 OECD countries

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 September 2019

ELIZABETH WONG Open the ORCID record for ELIZABETH WONG [Opens in a new window] ,
JUDY JOU ,
AMY RAUB  and
JODY HEYMANN
ELIZABETH WONG
Affiliation:
UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, 621 Charles E. Young Dr. South email: ewong@ph.ucla.edu
JUDY JOU
Affiliation:
Department of Health Science, California State University Long Beach, 1250 Bellflower Blvd email: Judy.Jou@csulb.edu
AMY RAUB
Affiliation:
UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, 621 Charles E. Young Dr. South email: araub@ph.ucla.edu
JODY HEYMANN
Affiliation:
UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, 621 Charles E. Young Dr. South email: jody.heymann@ph.ucla.edu
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Abstract

The availability of paid family leave has been widely researched in the context of a two-parent household with one mother and one father, yet few studies have explored whether households with same-sex parents have access to equal benefits. Expanding on previous cross-country comparisons of parental leave policies, this study examines parental leave policies in 34 OECD countries to compare the total duration of paid parental leave available to same-sex and different-sex parent families within a country. We find that same-sex female and different-sex couples receive equal durations of leave in the majority of countries. However, same-sex male couples often receive shorter durations of paid parental leave compared to both different-sex and same-sex female couples. In addition to addressing the implications of laws and policies surrounding same-sex marriage and same-sex adoption on parental leave availability, we highlight specific aspects of paid leave policies that may explain the unequal durations of paid leave between same-sex and different-sex couples.

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Type
Article
Information
Journal of Social Policy , Volume 49 , Issue 3 , July 2020 , pp. 525 - 545
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2019

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