Parental Leave Benefits and Leave Policies

I am a Canadian representative – with Donna Lero, Diane-Gabrielle Tremblay and Lindsey McKay in the International Network on Leave Policies and Research http://www.leavenetwork.org

With Dr. Lindsey McKay (first postdoctoral fellow in Gender, Work, and Care at Brock, 2015-2017), I have conducted research on Canadian (Quebecois and Ontario) fathers who have taken parental leave, exploring parental negotiations and processes of change and resistance. In collaboration with Dr. Sophie Mathieu, we have conducted research on class and gender inequalities in parental leave provision and take up.

Selected recent and forthcoming publications:

• Doucet, A., Mathieu, S., and McKay, L.  (online first August 2020, in press, October 2020) Reconceptualizing Parental Leave Benefits in COVID-19 Canada: From Employment Policy to Care and Social Protection Policy. Canadian Public Policy.  https://www.utpjournals.press/doi/abs/10.3138/cpp.2020-091

• Mathieu, S. McKay, L. and Doucet, A. (2020). Parental Leave and Intra-Regime Differences in a Liberal Country: The Case of Four Canadian Provinces. Canadian Journal of Sociology, 45(2), 169-194.

• Doucet, A. and McKay, L. (2020). Fathering, parental leave, impacts, and gender equality: What/how are we measuring? International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, 40(5/6), pp. 441-463.

• McKay, L., Mathieu, S., & Doucet, A. (2016). Parental-leave rich and parental-leave poor? In/Equality in Canadian Labour-Market based Leave Policies. Journal of Industrial Relations, 58(4), 1-20. doi: 10.1177/0022185616643558

• Doucet, A. and McKay, L. (in press, 2017). An ethics of care approach to parental leave as a childcare policy. In R.Langford, S. Prentice, and P. Albanese (Eds.). Caring for Children: Social Movements and Public Policy in Canada. Vancouver: UBC Press.

• Doucet, A. (2016) The ethics of care as practice, relational ontology, and social justice: The radical potential of fathers “home alone on leave”. In M. O’Brien and K.Wall (Eds). Fathers on Leave Alone: Work-life Balance and Gender Equality in Comparative Perspective. Springer.

• Doucet, A. Lero, D., McKay, L., and Tremblay, D.G. (2015) “Leave Policy and Research: Canada” in P. Moss (Ed). International Review of Leave Policies and Related Research (11th edition, revised) London: Employment Relations Research.

• McKay, L., Marshall, K., & Doucet, A. (2013). Fathers and parental leave in Canada: Policies, and practices. In S. Allen, K. Daly, & J. Ball (Eds.), Engaging fathers in social change: lessons from Canada (pp. 207-223). Vancouver: UBC Press

• McKay, L. and Doucet, A. (2010) ‘Without Taking Away Her Leave’: A Canadian Case Study of Couples’ Decisions on Fathers’ Use of Paid Leave”, Fathering (special issue edited by Margaret O’Brien and Linda Haas on Men, Work and Parenting). 8. 3: 300-320.

• Doucet, A., McKay, L, & Tremblay, D.-G. (2009). Canada and Quebec: Two policies, one country. In P. Moses & S. Kamerman (Eds.), The Politics of Parental Leave Policies: Children, Parenting, Gender and the Labour Market (pp. 33-50). Bristol, UK: Policy Press

Recent Presentations/Consultations with unions; labour groups and the federal government on Parental Leave

• Doucet, A., McKay, L., & Mathieu, S. (2016). Who/whose benefits: Gender and class issues in parental leave in Quebec and Canada, Paper presented at CUPE Child Care. Roundtable Featured Panel, Ottawa, ON

• McKay, L., Mathieu, S., & Doucet, A. (2016). Parental-leave rich and parental-leave poor: Closing Equality Gaps in Canadian Parental Leave Policy. Paper presented at the Canadian Labour Congress, EI and Women’s Issues Committee, Ottawa, ON

Government Reports

• Doucet, A., and McKay, L.* (2018) Les deux politiques de régimes parentaux du Canada: un argument en faveur du congé réservé aux pères >> (“Canada’s two parental leave policy regimes: An argument for dedicated leave time for fathers“) Rapport rédigé pour les 10 ans due Régime Québécois d’assurance parentale. Québec: Conseil de Gestion de L’Assurance Parentale. *equal authorship.

• Mathieu, S., McKay, L., and Doucet. A. (2018) <<Politiques sociales, soutien au travail de soins et inégalités de classes >> (“Labour Market Policies, Support for Parental Caregiving, and Class Inequality”), Rapport rédigé pour les 10 ans du Régime Québécois d’assurance parentale. Québec: Conseil de Gestion de L’Assurance Parentale.

Op eds:

• McKay, L., & Doucet, A. (2016). It’s about time we give parental leave a much needed facelift: The rest of Canada should follow Quebec’s leave eligibility example.  Winnipeg Free Press. Retrieved from http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/analysis/its-about-time-we-give-parental-leave-a-much-needed-facelift-397871111.html

• Mathieu, S., McKay, L., and Doucet. A. (2016). Mieux vaut être mère au Québec: Le régime de congés parentaux a 10 ans: le bilan est nettement positif. Le Devoir. Retrieved from http://www.ledevoir.com/societe/actualites-en-societe/477159/mieux-vaut-etre-mere-au-quebec

Image painted by Christine Martell