One Extra Year

Week buckets. All duration columns use the buckets 0, 1–5, 6–8, 9–12, 13–16, 17–20, 21–26, 27–38, 39–52, and >52 weeks. Days are converted at 5 working days per week; months at ~4.3 weeks; "one semester" is counted as ~14–16 weeks unless the institution specifies otherwise.

"At full pay." A week counts as fully paid if the person retains at least 90% of their regular salary during it, regardless of who pays (university, government, insurance, or a combination). We use 90% rather than 100% so that near-full collective-agreement top-ups (e.g., 93–97%) count, while capped statutory schemes that nominally pay "90%" but cap well below academic salaries do not.

Reference person. Maternity columns describe the birth parent (or primary carer where the policy is framed that way). Paternity columns describe the secondary/supporting caregiver — the entitlement available to a parent who is not the primary carer. Where a policy allows either parent to take primary-carer leave, that option is recorded in the notes, not in the paternity columns. Entitlements that require the other parent to transfer or curtail their own leave (e.g., UK Shared Parental Leave, Israeli leave-splitting) are excluded from the paternity figures.

"Total leave available." The maximum job-protected leave that parent can take — paid or unpaid — counting designated leave plus any parental leave available to them as of right (including shareable pools accessible without the other parent forfeiting an earmarked portion). This is the greater of the university entitlement and the statutory floor of the jurisdiction in the "Jurisdiction" column.

Vocabulary tokens. N/A = the mechanism does not exist in that system (e.g., "tenure clock" at universities with no tenure clock; "employer health insurance" in countries where insurance is not employment-based). Not specified/unclear = we could not determine the answer. Varies/depends = the answer differs by funding source, appointment type, or individual circumstances. These three are deliberately distinct: N/A is a claim of knowledge, not its absence.

Teaching relief. Teaching-relief columns describe relief beyond the leave itself — modified duties or course release on return. Not teaching during the leave semester is a property of the leave, not a separate relief scheme, and is coded N or N/A accordingly. Entitlements the institution designates as leave are counted in the weeks columns; entitlements designated as workload or teaching relief are recorded in the teaching-relief columns instead.

University / Department. The institution and the specific unit surveyed. The same university may appear more than once when we surveyed several of its schools (e.g., an economics department and a business school). University-wide policies are coded identically across a university's rows; unit-specific benefits may differ.

TT: Maternity Weeks — At full pay. Weeks of leave during which a tenure-track/tenured birth parent retains ≥90% salary, under the standard package taken as intended.

TT: Paternity Weeks — At full pay. The same, for a secondary-caregiver parent (see Reference person above).

TT: Maternity / Paternity Weeks — Total leave available. Maximum job-protected leave (paid + unpaid) available to that parent; see General conventions.

TT: Pay Status. How the standard leave package is paid, taken as intended and with optional unpaid extensions excluded: Fully Paid = ≥90% salary throughout; Partial = some portion at a reduced rate or unpaid within the package; Unpaid = no pay.

TT: Funded By. Who bears the salary cost of the paid portion: University, Government (statutory/social-insurance schemes), or a combination.

TT: Health Insurance Continues? Whether employer-provided health insurance continues during leave. N/A in countries where health coverage is not tied to the employer (national health systems); scholarship-attached cover for international students is described in the notes.

TT: Teaching Reduction? Whether a formal teaching-relief mechanism exists beyond the leave itself (post-leave modified duties or course release). N includes "no formal policy" (ad-hoc arrangements may still exist); N/A means the system has no such mechanism (typically statutory-leave countries, confirmed by the institution).

TT: Courses Waived. The scope of any teaching relief: Full teaching relief (all courses for the stated period), a specific number of courses, or Varies by department/load where relief is arranged case-by-case. Follows the Teaching Reduction column: if that is N/A, this is N/A.

TT: Semesters of Teaching Relief. Duration of teaching relief in semester-equivalents (0, 0.5, 1, 2), where one semester-equivalent means a 50% reduction in the year's teaching load. Institutions on a quarter or trimester calendar are converted on that basis: one quarter = 0.5, two quarters = 1. Coded for the birth parent; where non-birth parents receive less, the condition is in the notes. If Teaching Reduction is N or N/A, this is N/A.

TT: Service Obligations Reduced? Whether committee/administrative service is formally reduced around leave.

TT: Tenure Clock Extension? Whether the probationary clock extends upon a birth/adoption. An extension is coded Y and counts as a clock stop whether it is granted automatically or on request; only the absence of any such mechanism is N. Systems without a US-style tenure clock are N/A; note that several non-US universities (UK, Canada, Sweden) do operate tenure-clock-equivalent probation systems, coded Y/N accordingly.

TT: Extension Length. The length of one clock extension: 1 year, 2 years per child, or Length of leave taken (systems where the clock stops for exactly the leave duration).

TT: Max # of Extensions. Cap on total extensions, if stated (2, No stated maximum, ...).

TT: Extension Same for Paternity? Whether non-birth parents receive the same clock extension.

TT: Extension Depends on # of Children? Whether extensions multiply per child (e.g., twins = two years) rather than per event.

TT: Adoption/Surrogacy Equivalent? Whether adoption (and, where addressed, surrogacy) is treated equivalently to birth for leave purposes.

Same definitions as the TT block, applied to lecturers/teaching-track/contract faculty. NTT: Courses Waived / Semesters combines scope and duration using the TT vocabulary, with duration in parentheses — e.g., Full teaching relief (1 semester/term, conditional); Leave coverage only means the leave itself is the only provision, with no separate relief scheme.

Same leave/pay/insurance definitions applied to postdoctoral researchers. Where postdocs are university employees on the general agreement (most of Europe, Australia, Canada), they inherit the staff entitlements; where funder-dependent, columns read Varies/depends.

Postdoc: Contract Extended After Leave? Whether the appointment end-date is extended by the length of leave taken, so the postdoc does not lose contract time. Varies/depends where this is at the funder's or host institution's discretion.

PhD: Maternity / Paternity Weeks and Totals. As above, for doctoral researchers. Where PhD students are employees (Nordics, Netherlands, much of continental Europe), entitlements follow the staff agreement; where they are stipend/scholarship holders (US, UK, Australia), figures reflect the scholarship rules and can differ sharply from staff entitlements at the same university.

PhD: Pay Status / Stipend Continues? Whether stipend or salary continues during parental leave, same scale as TT Pay Status, with Varies/depends where continuation hinges on the funding scheme.

PhD: Health Insurance Continues? As TT. For international students with scholarship-attached cover (e.g., OSHC in Australia), continuation is described in the notes.

PhD: Formal Process or Advisor-Dependent? Whether parental leave for PhD researchers runs through a formal institutional or statutory process (Formal (grad-school/institutional policy), Formal (union contract)) or depends on the advisor (No formal policy).

PhD: Dept Guarantees Stipend? Whether stipend continuation during leave is guaranteed at the department level or via a binding agreement the department follows (collective agreements count as Y). Depends on funding source (fellowship/grant) where continuation varies by scheme; N where no guarantee exists.

PhD: Adoption/Surrogacy Equivalent? As TT.

Leave Before Birth Available? Whether leave can (or must) begin before the expected birth date.

Continuous or Intermittent? Whether the leave must be taken as one block (Continuous only) or can be split/taken flexibly (Intermittent allowed).

Min Employment Period for Eligibility. Service required before qualifying for the main paid entitlement: None, ≤6 months, 6–12 months, 12 months, or Varies by track/funding where different tiers face different requirements. Notes that name an eligibility criterion without a duration (e.g., "benefits-eligible employment") are coded Not specified/unclear.

Flexibility to Negotiate Extra Leave? Whether additional leave (unpaid extensions, half-pay conversions) can be arranged.

Lactation/Nursing Accommodations? Y (dedicated policy) = the institution has its own lactation policy/facilities; Y (statutory) = only the legal requirement applies; N = confirmed absence of facilities.

Phased Return Options? Whether a graduated/part-time return (keeping-in-touch days, phased-return blocks, return-to-work programs) is offered.

Conference Childcare Grants? Whether the institution funds childcare for research travel/conferences. Campus-level programs; not inferred across university systems.

Adoption/Surrogacy: Notes / Differences. Free-text notes, including country-specific health-coverage context and primary-carer options excluded from the paternity columns.

Insurance: Covers Childbirth? Y (employer plan) or Y (national health system) depending on the system.

Insurance: Covers Fertility Treatments? Y (comprehensive), Partial/limited, Plan-dependent, N / none, or Not specified/unclear.

Insurance: Fertility Coverage Details. Specific covered treatments (IVF, IUI, egg/embryo freezing, etc.). Never more specific than the coverage column: where coverage is Not specified/unclear, details are N/A.

Jurisdiction (statutory basis). The country (or US state / Canadian province) whose statutory framework supplies the legal floor used in the Total columns.

Notes. A plain-language summary of the research behind each row, including any update received directly from the institution and the policy documents consulted.

Entries marked Withdrawn are institutions that declined to be included.