The Ethics of Parental Leave and Childcare

Abstract

Parental leave, daycare, and transfer programs are “the three mainstays” of family policy. Parental leave policies require that employers offer parental leave to new mothers or parents. Public daycare programs provide parents with childcare. Tax and transfer programs offer cash support or in-kind benefits to families with children. For each kind of policy, social scientists disagree about the effects of child welfare policies. Public officials must make trade-offs between considerations of efficiency, fairness, equality, and freedom when designing and enforcing family policies.