One of the promising areas of the national demographic policy is the development of a parental leave system. The paper considers and analyses the world experience in ensuring the flexibility of this system through a number of elements: the ability to take leave working part-time; the ability to take a part-time leave; two parents taking leave at the same time; another family members taking leave; the opportunity to receive additional leave under certain conditions; the ability to change the duration of leave and benefits. The source of information is the 2021 International Review of Parental Leave Policies and Research. The results of the study demonstrate the range of possibilities for changing Russian parental leave system.