Birth leave, promised by Emmanuel Macron and called to replace the current little-used parental leave, will come into force “during 2025” and its remuneration will take the form of a daily allowance, the Elysée indicated on Monday.
“This new leave involves major developments which require work and consultations, and this must pass, to be adopted, by the Social Security financing bill,” it was stressed. “The goal is to include it in the next Social Security financing project (PLFSS) next fall for entry into force in 2025,” we added.
Announced on January 16 by the Head of State during a press conference, birth leave must replace the current parental leave, created in 1977 and which struggles to convince due in particular to its low remuneration (429 euros per month ). The current system allows parents, at the end of their maternity or paternity leave, to suspend their professional activity until the child is 2 years old – 3 years if the parents share the leave.
Lots of details to decide
Birth leave, the terms of which will be the subject of discussions with the social partners, will be a “coupling between existing leaves, maternity (sixteen weeks) and paternity (twenty-eight days), a complement which should allow them to remain a total of six months with their child,” according to the Elysée. The question of whether this leave can be taken at the same time by both parents or successively has not yet been decided, the same source said.
As for remuneration, “the idea is to move away from the logic of a social benefit with a fixed amount and to move towards a system of daily allowance which (is) the same for maternity and paternity leave”. The remuneration will correspond to a “percentage of the previous salary”, a percentage whose level “has not yet been decided”, it was specified.
Part of the remuneration will be financed by Social Security, with a monthly ceiling of 1,800 euros, and can be supplemented by the employer to reach 100% of the salary, according to the Elysée. The terms of transition between the current parental leave and the new leave, which is one of the measures of the “demographic rearmament” announced by Emmanuel Macron, must also be the subject of discussions, specified the Elysée.