Balancing Work and New Parenthood

Presents a comparative analysis of the Australian parental leave system and offers recommendations for reform, applying various feminist theories and drawing on data from OECD countries.

This book closely examines the current parental leave provisions in Australia, both paid and unpaid, provided by both the government and private sector. In order to provide a comprehensive analysis of the Australian parental leave system, a comparison is made between the Australian provisions and those of Canada, Germany and Sweden. Applying various feminist theories to the analysis, recommendations for reform are identified to address the gaps found in the current system.