Parental leave policies in Chile and Switzerland from an institutional and gender perspective

Parental leaves are instruments of public policy to reconcile work and family life, providing support in time and money to parents with newborn children. Parental leaves allow parents to take a break from their paid work activity so that they can dedicate themselves to their care-work. Specifically, this study compares the parental leave policies of Chile and Switzerland from an institutional and gender perspective. It analyses similarities and differences in the dimensions of generosity, gender equity, and complementarity between care and paid work, and their implications for work-family policy. Using a cross-national comparative method, the results show that in Chile there coexist a traditional and dual-earner gender arrangements and a parental leave policy whichlimits the gender equity between parents. In Switzerland, there coexist a modified male breadwinner and dual-earner gender arrangements and a parental leave policy which supports moderately the gender equity.