The purpose of this article is to review the available evidence on the rold and effectiveness of time policies for reconciliation of care responsibilities. Time policies which contribute to the reconciliation of care responsibilities with those of employment include the following: maternity leave, parental leave and other family leave options (e.g., care for sick children), part-time or reduced hours, and other working-time adjustments. Among them, This article focuses on parental leave and parti-time or reduced hours. We find that appropriately designed social policies in this arena enhance the capacities of individuals, families and communities to deal with life events and risk (arrival of children, care needs of fragile elder parents, labor market uncertainties and future job security/career progression, income security) and four societies to progress a range of social and economic objectives (raising and female employment rate and optimising the use made of women's skills, sustainable fertility patterns, enhanced child welfare and family cohesion, family cpacities to provide informal care for the ageing population, etc.).