Social policy researchers usually agree that the availability of formal childcare has a positive effect on women’s employment. In contrast, the impact of family leave schemes like maternity leave, parental leave, care leave and child allowance schemes on women’s integration in the labour market is a contested issue. While some authors argue that generous family leave schemes provide women or parents of small children in general with the option to maintain links with the labour market even in periods of family care, others think that generous family leave has a negative effect on women’s employment in that it jeopardizes their long-term integration into the labour market. In this paper the author analyses the relationship between the degree of generosity of family leave schemes and the employment rate of mothers with young children in a cross-national perspective. The results suggest that generous family leave schemes in most cases are provided in welfare states with relatively generous family policies that offer parents different options for childcare. only subscribers can see the full article