Excerpt

Introduction

The International Network on Leave Policies and Research has been producing an annual review of leave policies and related research since 2005 (for earlier reviews, go to the network’s website www.leavenetwork.org [4]). The review covers Maternity, Paternity and Parental leaves; leave to care for sick children and other employment-related measures to support working parents; and early childhood education and care policy.

The International Review is based on country notes from each participating country, prepared by members of the network and edited by a team of network members. Each country note follows a standard format: details of different types of leave; the relationship between leave policy and early childhood education and care policy; recent policy developments; information on take-up of leave.

The International Review also includes definitions of the main types of leave policies; and cross-country comparisons. These comparative overviews cover: each main type of leave; the relationship between leave and ECEC entitlements; and policy changes and developments since the previous review. We also include a technical appendix.

The 2025 International Review covers 52 countries. These are: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Israel, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, Serbia, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States of America, Uruguay and Vietnam. This year, Kosovo appears in the review for the first time. It was not possible to revise and update the country note for China, so the entry for that country refers to 2024.

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