[Female employment, pregnancy leave, and reintegration into the work force]

This article summarizes a project conducted between 1981 and 1985, in which "the research was aimed at a comprehensive description of maternity protection legislation in Austria and its effects on women's status within the family and on the labour market." It includes a historical analysis of maternity protection laws since the 1880s, an investigation into the theoretical approaches to women's work and maternity leave and the connection to women's participation in the labor market, a survey of women's employment since the 1960s, an analysis of statistical data on recipients of maternity leave payments in the 1980s, a study of the relationship between women's working careers and confinement patterns, and models and social policy reform proposals that would facilitate the employment of mothers (SUMMARY IN ENG)