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

The beginning of 2011 coincided with the inauguration of the «European semester», one of the main novelties of the economic and social governance of the European Union, and with a further acceleration in view of the reorganization of the public accounts and the introduction of structural reforms. In many respects it suggests a potential «Germanization» of the Eu and its member countries. In the present number of Observatory Europa attention is given to these first steps of the new European strategy in economic and social matters (under the name of «Europe 2020»). It is followed by references to other central themes in the European debate: the revision of the Lisbon Treaty with the aim of institutionalizing the European Financial Stability Fund (Efsf); the state of the process for putting into law the new policy on working hours and the policy on parental leave; and the most important passages of the European agenda for the coordination of schemes of social protection and protection of the Roma. As always, we indicate a series of readings for those who want to know more about social Europe.only subscribers can see the full article

The essay analyses men’s and women’s choices in the labour market and care work in different national contexts. Starting from the prem-ise that there is an ongoing change in the condition of parenthood and fatherhood, the analysis considers the differences between Euro-pean countries in the compatibility between work and care of children both for men and women, and particularly men’s capabilities and right to care work. The article considers in detail proactive policies that encourage men to increase their care work concentrating on parental leave in Sweden.only subscribers can see the full article