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This story was originally published on macleans.ca.
One of the great strengths of Canadian federalism is the scope it allows for provinces to experiment. In education, health care and other social policies, innovations that fill important needs are quickly copied by other provinces. Those that don?t go no further. The latest opportunity to learn from this provincial policy laboratory involves parental leave.
Writing in the current issue of the Journal of Industrial Relations, a trio of Canadian researchers takes a close look at parental leave across Canada. While national figures show slow but steady growth in this policy?and the concept itself is always popular with parents?their investigation reveals a ?growing gap? in uptake between Quebec and the rest of the country. So what can the rest of Canada learn from Quebec?s experience" And what does this mean for the future of family policy nationwide" For most Canadian families, parental leave is accessed through the Employment Insurance system. Parents who wish to give up their job temporarily to raise a newborn at home are thus treated in the same manner as anyone who is involuntarily out of work. The equivalent of 17 weeks full-time work is required to access payments that can last up to 50 weeks?15 weeks exclusively for the mother and another 35 that can be shared between mother and father. While delivering parental leave through EI may offer some basic efficiencies for Ottawa, it has always s...