LIS offers two Family Policy Databases, both constructed by Janet Gornick and her colleagues. 

The first database describes selected work/family policies in fourteen countries, as of the middle 1980s.

The second database is an update and expansion of the first one.  The later version includes characteristics of work/family policies in twelve countries, as of approximately 2000.

The Family Policy Database, Version 1 (1997)

Data were assembled by Janet Gornick, Marcia Meyers, and Katherin Ross, and were published in 1997.

The data contained in the first Family Policy Database describe key family policy provisions in fourteen countries -- related to family leave, child care, and school schedules -- as of the middle 1980s. These data were assembled to allow LIS researchers to link policy provisions to microdata outcomes, especially maternal employment, in the LIS wave II microdata (1984-1987).

The policy data included here -- which are presented in a single Excel workbook -- came from a variety of secondary sources and were checked by country experts.   

Clarification: The table titled "public parental leave policies" should be titled "public family leave policies". The programs summarized in that table include maternity leave; paternity leave; and various forms of parental leave (referred to here as "extended leave").

Citation:  If you use these policy data, please site their source as follows:

Gornick, Janet C., Marcia K. Meyers, and Katherin E. Ross. 1997.  “Supporting the Employment of Mothers: Policy Variation Across Fourteen Welfare States." Journal of European Social Policy 7(1): 45-70.

 Please note that that journal article contains these raw policy data and, in addition, a set of indexes that combine policy features across programs.

The Family Policy Database, Version 2 (2003)

Data were assembled by Janet Gornick and Marcia Meyers, and were published in 2003.

The data contained in Version 2 of the Family Policy Database differ from those in Version 1 in that (a) they contain additional policy areas (in particular, working time regulations); (b) they offer considerably more detail in each program area; and (c) they describe policy provisions as of approximately 2000.  Version 2 also omits two countries that were included in the earlier database -- Australia and Italy -- due to data limitations.  We plan to restore these two countries and to add additional countries in future releases.

The policy data included in Version 2 are presented in Excel workbooks, each with several worksheets containing the individual tables. Each table includes citations and a full list of references is provided as well (in a separate Word file). In addition, a set of composite indexes is presented; these combine policy features across program areas, and their construction is documented. 

Several individuals helped to gather and check these data and we acknowledge their generous and invaluable contributions. Overall help came from Shirley Gatenio and Michelle Neuman in the U.S.  Fact-checking in the individual countries came from Koen Vleminckx and Georges Hedebouw (Belgium), Shelley Phipps (Canada), Jytte Jul Jensen (Denmark), Katja Forssen (Finland), Christophe Starzec (France), Irene Dingeldey and Heike Trappe (Germany), Monique Borsenberger (Luxembourg), Laura Den Dulk (Netherlands), Charlotte Koren (Norway), Johan Fritzell (Sweden), and Lucinda Platt (U.K.).

Citation:  If you use these policy data, please site their source as follows:

Gornick, Janet C. and Marcia K. Meyers. 2003.  Families That Work: Policies for Reconciling Parenthood and Employment.  New York: Russell Sage Foundation.

Please address all questions regarding both databases to:

Janet Gornick
Department of Political Science
Baruch College
City University of New York
17 Lexington Avenue
New York City, NY 10010
email: jgornick@baruch.cuny.edu

Family Policy Database, Version 1 (1997)

     or

Family Policy Database, Version 2 (2003)