ipcig.org (03.10.2022) COVID-19 has affected all countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, and groups already vulnerable before the crisis, such as children, have been particularly affected. Social protection can promote children’s well-being and reduce the negative impacts of crises on them, especially if their needs and vulnerabilities are taken into account. Against this background, the IPC-IG and UNICEF MENARO partnered to analyse the social protection responses to COVID-19 in MENA and assess the extent to which they took children’s needs into account.

European Commission (02/08/2022)  These new rules  set out minimum standards for paternity, parental and carers' leave and establish additional rights, such as the right to request flexible working arrangements, which will help people develop their careers and family life without having to sacrifice either. These rights, which come in addition to existing maternity leave rights, were achieved under the European Pillar of Social Rights and is a key milestone towards building a Union of Equality.

worldbank.org (16.05.2022) Having celebrated International Day of Families on May 15, it is now a great opportunity to reflect on the existing frameworks that support working parents at home and at work. Paid family leave has been a main area of reform in the past few years, as a significant number of countries have passed laws providing parents with the right to paid leave to care for their children . For example, Armenia became one of the 114 countries (out of the 190 measured) that introduced paid leave for fathers after its amended Labor Code came into effect in 2021.

weforum.org (31.03.2022) All 13 Canadian provinces and territories have now signed up to the plan which will also create a national daycare system. 

 International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth (IPC-IG) (March 2020) Children and adolescents are exposed to a multitude of risks, which have worsened due to the socio-economic repercussions of COVID-19. This emphasises the need to improve the protection of children and adolescents, who already faced greater poverty rates than other age groups before the crisis. This One Pager discusses universal cash transfers in Latin America and the Caribbean.

 NBER (March 2022) We conduct a benefit-cost analysis of a U.S. child allowance, based on a systematic literature review of the highest quality available causal evidence on the short- and long-term effects of cash and near-cash transfers. In contrast to the previous studies we synthesize, which tend to measure a subset of benefits and costs available in a particular dataset, we establish a comprehensive accounting of potential effects and secure estimates of each.

 WTW (28.02.2022) Provincial and municipal governments throughout China are extending parental and childcare leave to encourage more births.

thelocal.it (31.12.2021) From Saturday, the single universal child benefit (L’assegno unico e universale) is open for applications and will be distributed from March 1st 2022. The measure forms part of Italy’s overall Budget Law 2022, which has established tax and pension reforms as well as extended some tax breaks for home renovations and help with buying a first home.  The new single allowance replaces a raft of other so-called ‘baby bonuses‘, unifying a series of measures to support families – hence the term ‘unico‘.

wtwco.com  (24.01.2022) A large majority of the political parties in parliament have agreed on a new model to equalize family leave benefit entitlements between both parents, adopting almost in its entirety a proposal from the two main social partners. The bill required to amend current family leave legislation was submitted to parliament on December 22, 2021.

 European Commission (22.12.2021) The European Platform for Investing in Children (EPIC) has published a new report exploring how EU Member States supported working families throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.