natlawreview.com (27.03.2020)

Measures benefiting children or families with children

$3.5 billion in additional funding for Child Care Development Block Grants to provide childcare assistance to healthcare sector employees, emergency responders, sanitation workers, and other essential workers.

$25 billion for food assistance, including nearly $16 billion for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and nearly $9 billion for child nutrition.

Overview of the main measures implemented in Germany for workers:

- Emergency child supplement
- Compensation for loss of income due to the school closure
- Partial unemployment
- Simplified access to a basic income

In order to support families during the closure of schools, Italy implemented an extraordinary parental leave of 15 days, which is being extended of an additional 12 days.

prise en charge des enfants des personnels soignants pendant l'isolement et la fermeture des écoles

mhlw.go.jp (March, 2020)

Subsidies have been introduced to working parents who must take leave because of closed schools. The ministry is establishing a new subsidy for employers who allow their employees with children whose school is closed due to Covid19, 100% paid leave. The subsidy amount will be 100% of wage paid to employees up to 8330 yen per person, per day.

Policy Forum (19.09.2019) Ten years on from the historic announcement of Australia’s paid parental leave scheme, it is time for policymakers, experts, industry, and government to reflect on further improvements to support Australian families, Belinda Townsend writes.

Le Temps (12.09.2019) Le modèle du congé parental, entré trop tardivement dans le débat en commission, n’a pas fait le poids face au congé paternité. Le Conseil national opte pour une solution minimaliste, rejetant aussi l’initiative de Travail.Suisse

The Sidney Morning Herald (22.08.2019) Australian academics are looking to Iceland when it comes to ways to increase the proportion of fathers who take paternity leave. Asdís Arnalds, from the faculty of social work at the University of Iceland, will give the keynote address at the Australian National University on Thursday about how her country has doubled the proportion of fathers who take paternity leave from 40 per cent to 80 per cent since it was extended from six months to nine months.

ABC (17.07.2019) The average length of paid parental leave among OECD countries is around 55 weeks, while Australia's system offers 18 weeks, according to OECD data. Unlike the majority of the 36 members of the OECD, Australia provides a flat rate rather than a replacement wage. This makes the Australian system generous to low-income earners and part-time workers but not to those who earn more than the full-time minimum wage.