Organisations

This page includes links to relevant organisations in the field of leave policies.

Australia

Australian Institute of Family Studies

http://www.aifs.gov.au
The Australian Institute of Family Studies is a Melbourne-based statutory agency of the Australian Government established in February 1980 under the Australian Family Law Act 1975. The Institute operates within the portfolio of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet (PM&C) and has close links with the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA), the Attorney General's Department (AGD) and other Australian Government portfolios, their departments and agencies. The Institute aims to increase understanding of factors affecting how Australian families function by conducting research and communicating findings to policy-makers, service providers and the broader community.

 

Centre for Work+Life, University of South Australia

http://www.unisa.edu.au/hawkeinstitute/cwl/default.asp
The Centre for Work + Life (CW+L) is part of the Hawke Research Institute at the University of South Australia. It is a national research centre that investigates work and its intersection with household, family, community and social life in Australia.

 

Institute for Social Science Research, University of Queensland

http://www.issr.uq.edu.au/
The Institute for Social Science Research (ISSR) conducts research on high priority areas of public policy and is currently responsible for conducting the evaluation of the new Australian Paid Parental Leave Scheme, due to commence in January 2011.

 

Social Policy Research Centre, University of New South Wales

http://www.sprc.unsw.edu.au/
The Social Policy Research Centre (SPRC) is a specialist research centre of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at the University of New South Wales. The SPRC conducts research on all aspects of social policy, disseminates research findings, promotes research training through postgraduate study and contributes to policy development and evaluation.

 

Work + Family Policy Roundtable

http://www.familypolicyroundtable.com.au/
The Australian Work + Family Roundtable is made up of researchers with expertise on work and family policy. Its goals is to propose, comment upon, collect and disseminate relevant policy research to inform good, evidence-based public policy in Australia.  

 

Women and Work Research Group, University of Sydney

http://sydney.edu.au/business/research/wwrg/
The Women and Work Research Group (WWRG) provides high quality research, research training and consultancy on all aspects of women's experience of work, employment, family and community in Australia and the Asia-Pacific Region. WWRG's work has covered parental, maternity and paternity leave, flexible working and carers issues, migrant women and work, pay equity and equal opportunity for women in the workplace and women's health issues at work.

 

Australian Bureau of Statistics, Government Body

http://www.abs.gov.au
Compiles statistics of all kinds, including those relating to analyses, forecasts and statistical models. Statistical information is available in Statistical Yearbooks and on-line.

 

Federal Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, Government Body

http://www.fahcsia.gov.au
The Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA) is the Australian Government's main source of advice on social policy and is responsible for most matters pertaining to the wellbeing of Australian families.

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Austria

Austrian Institute for Family Studies, University Institute

http://www.oif.ac.at
It is a scientific, independent organisation for application-oriented, interdisciplinary study to examine the structure and dynamics of families, generations, genders and partnerships at the University of Vienna.

 

Statistics Austria, Government Body

http://www.statistik.at
Compiles statistics of all kinds, including the relating analyses, forecasts and statistical models. Statistical information is available in Statistical Yearbooks and on-line.

 

Federal Minister for Women, Family, Integration and Media in the Federal Chancellery

https://www.bundeskanzleramt.gv.at
The Ministry is responsible for legislation ruling early child care and family policy in general. The website provides information on family policy measures.

Further up-to-date information on all essential topics relating to Family and partnership can be found under oesterreich.gv.at

 

Canada

Labour department of Canada, Government Body

http://www.hrsdc.gc.ca/
Information on work-life clauses in collective agreements and general information on work-life balance issues.

 

Vanier Institute for the family, Non Profit Organisation

http://www.vifamily.ca
Non profit institute which has information on family and work-life balance issues.

 

Québec Parental leave and Parental insurance program, Government Body

http://www.rqap.gouv.qc.ca/

 

Labour Department of Québec, Government Body

http://www.travail.gouv.qc.ca
Information on parental leave in Québec and more.

 

Finland

National Insurance Institution (KELA), Government Body

http://www.kela.fi/in/internet/
The National Insurance Institute provides information and statistics on social security benefits, including maternity, paternity, parental leave benefits and child home care allowance in Finland.

 

Statistics Finland, Government Body

http://www.tilastokeskus.fi/
Statistics Finland provides statistics on the labour market, families, and social protection in Finland.

 

Ministry of Social Affairs and Health (STM), Government Body

http://www.stm.fi/
The Ministry is responsible for social protection during leave as well as for gender equality in Finland.

 

Germany

Federal Ministry for the Family, the Elderly, Women and Youth; Government Body

http://www.bmfsfj.de
The Ministry is responsible for all aspects of parental leave legislation and coordinates various family and equal opportunity policy initiatives on the ground. The webiste offers wideranging information and reports on social policy issues.

 

German Youth Institute, Government Body

http://www.dji.de/
The German Youth Institute is Germany´s largest non-university research institute devoted to the study of children, youth, and families. The Institute employs a wide range of quantitative and qualitative research strategies and methods such as continuous social monitoring of changing living conditions and studies on specific socio-political questions.

 

The Federal Statistics Office, Government Body

http://www.destatis.de/
The Federal Statistics Office provides detailed statistics on the usage of parental leave and the provision of childcare throughout Germany.

 

Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Non Profit Organisation

http://www.iza.org/
IZA is an international research institute and a place for communication between academic science, politics, and economic practice. One of its main research feilds is the evaluation labour market programs and policies. The institute has published various studies on parental leave and childcare policies.

 

Greece

General Secretariat for Gender Equality, Government Body

http://www.isotita.gr/
The Secretariat belongs to the Ministry of the Interior and is competent to plan, implement, and monitor the implementation of policies on equality between women and men in all sectors. In its website one can find the Greek National Policy Priorities and Axes for Action on Gender Equality (2004 – 2008). KETHI is the research body of the Secretariat on issues related to gender equality.

 

Foundation For Economic & Industrial Research (IOBE), Non Profit Organisation

http://www.iobe.gr
This is a private, non-profit, public-benefit research organisation. It was established in 1975 with the dual purpose of promoting research on current problems and prospects of the Greek economy.

 

Employment Observatory Research - Informatics SA, Private Institution

http://www.paep.org.gr
The company (P.A.E.P.S.A.) is one of the two affiliated companies of OAED (The Manpower Employment Organisation). It covers a wide range of actions, including research projects and studies on the labour market and monitoring of the national, European and international progress and perspectives in the domains of labour market, progress of vocations and identification of the educational and vocational training needs.

 

The Economic and Social Council of Greece, Tripartite Institution

http://www.oke.gr
The Greek ESC was established on 1994, based on the model of the ESC of the European Union: tripartite division of the interests represented, i.e. a division into three groups, one of employers/entrepreneurs, one of private and public sector employees, and one including the other categories, such as farmers, self-employed people, local government and consumers. Its mission is to conduct the social dialogue on the country's general policy and in particular on economic and social policy guidelines, as well as to formulate opinions on government bills or MPs' law proposals referred to it.

 

Slovenia

Ministry of Labour, Family and Social Affairs, Government Body

http://www.mddsz.gov.si
The Ministry is responsible for all aspects of parental leave legislation.The website provides information on the rights under insurance for parental protection, family benefits (including parental allowance and childbirth allowance), legislation, and statistics on beneficiaries and total benefits paid.

 

Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia, Government Body

http://www.stat.si/
Statistical Office publishes reports (First Release, Rapid Reports) on parental benefits and pre-school childcare. Statistical information is available in Statistical Yearbooks and on-line (SI-STAT Data Portal).

 

Ministry of Education and Sport, Government Body

http://www.mss.gov.si/
The Ministry is responsible for legislation ruling early child care and education. The website provides information on childcare programmes and providers, and some statistics.

 

Social Protection Institute of the Republic of Slovenia (IRSSV), Government Body

http://www.irssv.si/
The tasks of the Social Protection Institute include a comprehensive and systematic monitoring of the child well-being and quality of life. Family policy (including maternity, paternity and parental leave) and work-life balance are among the Institute's main research fields.

 

Switzerland

Swiss Federal Statistical Office

http://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/portal/en/index.html
The Federal Statistical Office provides information of all kinds, including on the population, employment and income, social security and gender equality.

 

Federal Social Insurance Office (FSIO)
http://www.bsv.admin.ch/index.html
The Federal social Insurance Office is part of the Federal Department of Home Affairs. It provides information on social insurances, including on the Federal Law on income compensation which covers maternity benefits. Statistics of uptake and expenditure are provided, so as links to legal texts on maternity leave.Federal Statistical Office provides information of all kinds, including on the population, employment and income, social security and gender equality.

 

Federal Commission for the Coordination of Family Issues

http://www.ekff.admin.ch/content.php?ekff-2-5
The Federal commission for the coordination of family issues is an advisory commission of the federal administration. It provides information on the living conditions of families, coordinates exchanges between public administrations and private organisations, makes recommendations on the orientation of family policy and positions itself regarding family policies and projects. In October 2010, it issued a report on leave policies and made a proposition of a parental leave model for Switzerland.

 

Database of the Swiss Parliament

http://www.parlament.ch/f/suche/pages/curia-vista.aspx
This search engine enables to access, using key words, past parliamentary interventions and debates on parental leaves.

 

'Conciliation Work-Family' Information Platform

http://www.berufundfamilie.admin.ch/informationsplattform/index.html?lang=fr
This platform is a common project of the Department for Home Affairs and the Department of the Economy. It centralises information on work and family reconciliation measures (regulations, incentive programs and ECEC services), in all cantons and municipalities in Switzerland.

 

Labour Union 'Travail.Suisse'

http://www.travailsuisse.ch/fr/taxonomy/term/95
Travail.Suisse is a labour union which promotes the implementation of a federal paternity leave. Various press releases and positions of the union on the topic are available on their website (available in French and German).

 

USA

Sloan Foundation

The Clearinghouse on International Developments in Child, Youth and Family Policies; University Institute/Department
http://www.childpolicyintl.org/
The Clearinghouse provides cross-national, comparative information about the policies, programs, benefits and services available in the advanced industrialized countries to address child, youth, and family needs. Coverage focuses on 23 advanced industrialized countries. Expansion to other countries and other parts of the world is under way.