The „Research Handbook on Leave Policy. Parenting and Social Inequalities in a Global Perspective“ has just been published with Edward Elgar. The book is co-edited by Sonja Blum together with Ivana Dobrotić (University of Zagreb) and Alison Koslowski (University College London).

Featuring 28 contributions from leading international scholars of social policy, the Handbook provides a comprehensive overview of conceptual and methodological developments in leave policy research, as well as state-of-the-art findings on leave policy determinants and outcomes globally.

The Research Handbook is organised in five parts:

-          Part I: Conceptual and analytical challenges in leave policy research

-          Part II: Analysing the drivers of leave policies: politics and ideas

-          Part III: Assessing the outcomes of leave policies

-          Part IV: Leave policies in comparative perspective

-          Part V: Gaps and the future of leave policy research and development

The topic of leave policy design and social inequalities is placed at the centre of the Research Handbook. Chapters illustrate its relevance in the context of gendered care and employment practices, precarious, underinsured, and nonstandard employment, informal economies, migration, family changes, and growing financial strains for parents. Using parental leave policy as an empirical lens to further our understanding of the intersectional nature of social inequalities, the editors ultimately consider whether there is a case to reconfigure leave policy as a social right.