Fair Leave Practices for Working Parents

The Center for Law and Social Policy has published two briefs-one on
paid parental leave and the other on paid sick days-in its new series
focusing on the work-life balance. The reports catalogue lessons learned
from policies in place in New Zealand. Despite drastic differences in
labor force size, the United States and New Zealand face many of the
same labor-force challenges, including growing numbers of working
mothers and an aging workforce with fewer workers to support an
increasing number of older citizens. Among the recommendations: making
businesses aware that parental leave is a relatively rare occurrence,
increasing public-private partnerships to encourage business
participation in parental leave policy debates, and general-revenue
financing of parental leave.