ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses how Australia developed its family care program leaving the US the only rich country in the world that does not provide paid leave to new parents through a publicly funded program or mandated employer arrangements. The chapter provides an overview of paid parental leave practices across countries in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). It describes the policy objectives served by parental leave programs and argues that paid parental leave is an essential building block of gender equity for both public and private sector employees.
