Which countries are most generous to new parents?

By THE DATA TEAM

CONSENSUS is widespread that new parents should receive some form of time off work or financial aid in order to stay at home with their babies. But statutory parental-leave packages vary widely across the OECD, a club of mostly rich countries. Some have long paid-leave entitlements, but provide skimpy benefits for a large part of them. Others offer shorter leave periods but at full pay. One measure that allows for an easy comparison of countries’ generosity to new parents is the full-pay equivalent portion of the leave. That is the length of leave that would be covered if it were paid at 100% of the average worker’s earnings.