European Maternity Leave for Men

What Is Maternity Leave?

Maternity leave is taken during pregnancy or after the birth or adoption of a baby, but it’s often called family or parental leave. Sometimes, if the father’s taking the maternity leave, it’s called "paternity leave." For the purpose of this article family, paternity, parental, or maternity leave will simply be referred to as "maternity leave" unless stated otherwise.

One problem with grouping maternity leave with family leave is that it’s part of a package. Leave such as sick time, vacation, personal days, and maternity leave can all fall under the same package. The problem is that fathers may not have maternity leave available when they need it due to taking sick days or a vacation. The goal should be for all countries to honor the birth or adoption of a child as a separate event from all other types of leave.

Maternity leave laws, such as length of time allowed, vary from country to country and in different areas of each country. Laws can also vary from company to company. Sometimes, this depends on the number of employees or type of business. Another varying factor is paid leave verses non-paid leave.

What Does European Maternity Leave for Men Look Like?

The European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound) has an excellent PDF document available regarding European maternity leave for parents.

In this survey, Eurofound lists each country’s leave time, income given, and other legal provisions.

The following are examples of European maternity leave for men policies:

Amazing Maternity Leave Policy

Sweden: According to Eurofound, either parent in Sweden is allowed to take 60 full days of parental leave. The document states that parents are allowed another 360 days to be split between the two parents (however the parents choose) until a child turns 8 years-old. The 60 days added to the 360 days equals a total of 420 days to care for children. This is an extremely generous policy, which does not stop with maternity leave.

There are flexible options offered within the plan to use the hours allotted. Fathers have their own specific paid leave time. Additionally, 360 days worth of the leave time is paid at 80 percent of a father's current pay rate.

One nice benefit of the policies for maternity leave in Sweden is that either parent can reduce their work time by a whopping 75 percent if they so choose until their child turns 8.

Good Maternity Leave Policy

Portugal: Portugal’s policy is not too shabby. Eurofound reports that parents receive the following:

• Each parent receives a full six months worth of time off before their child turns three years old which correlates with normal work hours. If you work an average week of 40 hours, the time off would be in relation to that.
• Fathers receive a different leave after they take their maternity leave. Portugal policy calls this parental, not maternity leave, and it amounts to 15 days worth of time off.
• Leave is all unpaid. Fathers can claim 100 percent of their earnings, though, for the 15 extra days of paternity leave.
• Portugal has a policy that allows parents to reduce their work hours until a child turns 12 years old.

Other Maternity Leave Policies

Compared to the rest of Europe, Spain and Cyprus have maternity leaves policies that allow less time off than their European counterparts. In Spain all leave is joint: not father-specific and unpaid. Fathers can reduce their working hours by just 66 percent until their child is five years old, but only if the child is disabled.

Cyprus has unpaid joint leave and allows three months leave divided over six years. It works out to about 15.5 days a year or 1.3 days a month.

Various European Father Maternity Leave Statistics

European maternity leave for men has been studied by The National Information Centre on Fatherhood. Some of the centre’s findings include:

• 75 percent of all European fathers know their rights when it comes to maternity leave, but only 84 percent report that they won’t take it and haven’t in the past. One main reason given for not taking leave is that the man’s wife is a stay at home mom.
• Various centre studies show that maternity benefits like paid leave, employee and co-worker support, information, and absolute job security would encourage men to take maternity leave.

A recent study at European Fatherhood offers additional statistics:

• The European average for fathers taking leave is low, but it’s high in areas with positive policy. Eighty percent of Swedish fathers for example, take maternity leave.
• This study reports that it’s the same across the board – the more generous the policy, the more men who take maternity leave.
• Areas that have father specific maternity leave also see a rise in men taking leave.

Studies show that male maternity leave is positive for marriage and family. Divorce rates lower and it creates a positive child view of gender roles in families. The best way to encourage fathers to be the best they can is to allow them time to be with their children, no matter where in the world they live.