The purpose of this paper is to study work-family policy courses, development, application, and effects through in-depth case studies, and thereby, to identify specific issues for Korea's policy formulation and implementation. In this study, the work-family balance policy is defined as "the policy that secure the work right and parent right of working parents". specially targeting working parents with children whose demand for work-family balance is the most high. The research results can be summarized as follows:
In-depth case studies on work-family balance policies were conducted by country, focusing on specific contexts, policy features, policy changes, and key strategies. The following eight countries were chosen for this research: Sweden, the UK, Germany, France, Canada, the Netherlands, Japan, and Korea. The results of this case studies imply that the national policy focus may vary depending on socio-economic circumstances but there seems some converge to a certain degree in terms of key realms and courses. What they have in common is that, the policies have been promoted in the sequence of 'leave' and 'working time,' on the foundations of childcare service. Especially, the leave policies have been systematically developed so the duration, eligibility and benefits rate are continuously expanded. Also there are special efforts to encourage men's participation in childcare and using paternity/parentalnd leave.
The interest in working time policies has recently heightened, especially through improving the status of part-time work(for example, elimination of the discrimination against part-time work), many countries create a new opportunities for "decent" part-time work. Also there are a new legislation for working time reduction for parents with young children. And this efforts eased the balancing work and family of working parents with young children. In other words, the policy focus has been placed on appropriately managing working time through stable part-time employment, and thereby increasing their "family hours". ？
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