Excerpt from news release:

Since before the 2006 federal election, a spirited debate on early childhood development has taken place across Canada. How much time parents can take off from work at the birth of a child and how they are supported while on leave are important aspects of this issue. In light of this, the IRPP is releasing a study entitled "Working for Working Parents," by Shelley Phipps (Dalhousie University). The study traces the evolution of maternity and parental benefits, examines their effectiveness and outlines ways to improve the program.

The author observes that the current regime serves the typical working woman rather well. Total compensation available to her has increased significantly over time, due primarily to longer duration of benefits from 15 to 50 weeks. Moreover, the probability of collecting maternity benefits has increased from a mere 5 percent in 1971 to 60 percent in 2003.

The author also compares the Quebec program with the current Canadian regime. She shows that the Quebec program serves higher-earners, the self-employed and fathers better, and offers interesting potential directions for change. However, she fears the multiplication of separate provincial programs and recommends maintaining the Canadian the Canadian program with in EI in order to ensure a consistent level of services across the country.

Phipps contends that accessibility, flexibility and the replacement rate need to be improved.