Volume 29, Number 2 (Spring) 1994
Trzcinski, Eileen, and William T. Alpert. 1994. "Pregnancy and Parental Leave Benefits in the United States and Canada: Judicial Decisions and Legislation." Journal of Human Resources 29(2):535-554.
This paper outlines the major judicial decisions and legislative initiatives that have shaped the growth of various types of maternity and parental leave employment benefits in the United States and Canada and analyzes the differences and similarities in the United States and Canadian evolution of these benefits. It presents the major judicial arguments in detail, because these arguments represent social and economic perspectives that shaped the labor market opportunities afforded women in the United States and Canada throughout the beginning and the middle of this century. It also highlights the interaction between judicial decisions and legislative initiatives in influencing the availability of leave.
Eileen Trzcinski is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Consumer Economics and Housing, Cornell University and William T. Alpert is an Associate Professor in the department of Economics, University of Connecticut and Senior Program Officer at the William H. Donner Foundation, New York, New York. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the February 1991 Donner Foundation Workshop on the Economic Well-Being of Women and Children held at the University of Minnesota Industrial Relations Center. The authors are grateful to participants in that workshop, an anonymous referee, and Anne Routhier of the Human Resources Development Canada. The authors are solely responsible for all shortcomings of the paper.
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