Tuesday during his full press conference, the President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron confirmed that the current parental leave would be replaced by a new system. But its contours, in particular its remuneration and its entry into application, remain unclear. Here’s what you need to remember now.
What is current parental leave?
Currently, parents can, at the end of their maternity or paternity leave, suspend their professional activity until the child is two years old – three years if the parents share the leave. But this system, created in 1977 and reformed several times, struggles to convince, in particular because of its low remuneration (429 euros per month). According to official figures, the number of parents using it fell from 500,000 in 2013 to 246,000 in 2020 and the share of fathers using it remains less than 1% according to a 2021 study by the French Observatory of Economic Conditions (OFCE). .
The professional conditions to benefit from it, particularly in terms of seniority and status, are not yet known.
What compensation for this birth leave?
The new leave, which was first mentioned in July by Aurore Bergé, then Minister of Solidarity, can be taken by both the father and the mother. “Either they can take it together or successively,” Madame Bergé, now in charge of the issue of Equality between women and men, said on Wednesday on Sud Radio.
At this stage, no amount has yet been revealed, the terms of this new leave having to be the subject of discussions with the social partners. Aurore Bergé, however, reaffirmed that the amount would go “well beyond the current 429 euros”. The existing parental leave was too often “reserved either for those who had enormous savings and means or for those who had very little difference with their level of income, in short it penalized the middle classes”, he said. she adds.
And how long?
The new leave will be shorter than the current leave, the duration of which – up to three years – has had the consequence, according to Emmanuel Macron, of “keeping many women away from the job market”. During his press conference at the Elysée, the head of state mentioned the duration of “six months”. This six-month period includes the period of maternity leave (16 weeks) and paternity leave (28 days), Aurore Bergé said on Sud Radio. “When you combine paternity or maternity leave, when you add this leave that will be created, that’s about six months per parent that can be taken,” she said. Emmanuel Macron gave no indication of timetable. But Aurore Bergé last November mentioned the introduction of this leave “from 2025”.
The professional conditions to benefit from it, particularly in terms of seniority and status, are not yet known. For Déborah David, associate lawyer in social law at de Gaulle Fleurance, this birth leave is also an “interesting for businesses” measure. In today’s job market, “three years is an eternity” and having to return the employee to their original position can be complicated. A shorter leave would allow us to have an employee who is not “away for too long”.
What do associations and experts think?
“Improving compensation for parental leave is a good thing but it will have to be improved in a truly substantial manner to meet the wishes of parents,” the general director of the National Union of Family Associations told AFP ( Unaf) Guillemette Leneveu. “Parents must lose the least by taking care of their children,” she adds. “We absolutely must get as close as possible to the Nordic model which is around 75% otherwise it will be a reform which will change nothing.”
In a report on “the first 1,000 days of the child” submitted to the government in 2020, a commission of experts recommended the establishment of parental leave of 9 months (36 weeks) shareable between both parents . The experts insisted on the importance of a “sufficiently attractive” level of compensation, which would correspond “to a minimum amount of 75% of the income received regardless of status”.