He wanted a “demographic rearmament” of France. Faced with the decline in the birth rate in France, Emmanuel Macron hopes to provoke a shock to fight against what he describes as “a scourge”. One of the key measures of the plan announced in January was to create a real “birth leave” intended to replace parental leave, used less and less by new parents and especially neglected by men. In France, less than 6% of fathers request parental leave to be with their child before starting school, according to data from the Family Allowance Fund. Less long but better paid, will this new birth leave, for which consultation has now been launched, be the miracle solution to convince dads to adopt it? No more “so sorry, but I have to go to work”? Nothing is less sure.
In France, women have four months of maternity leave surrounding their childbirth. As for fathers, they have benefited from 28 days since 2021 off to take in the first year of their baby’s life. And after ? Until now, parents were free to request parental leave until the child was 3 years old, which the employer was not entitled to refuse. The problem ? His remuneration, set at 448 euros, was not the type to convince many parents to resort to it, because they could not live with dignity on such a small sum. Used less and less every month, this “shared child education benefit” or PreParE, needed to be reformed, that’s for sure.
Better pay, but…
According to the first elements communicated by the government, this amount will increase from 2025 to 50% of the parent’s salary, without exceeding 1,900 euros per month. “With this leave, both parents will be able to take time off for three months each: it is a crucial moment because this is where lifelong bonds with the child are formed,” declared the Minister Delegate responsible for Childhood, Sarah El Haïry, in an interview with The gallery. Insufficient to convince observers. “Will there be more people who will have a child because it’s a little better paid? I do not think so. Maybe a few thousand couples, but no more,” estimates Raymond Debord, sociologist.
The author from the book “Should we end the family? » is quite critical of this birth leave, believing that it will absolutely not respond to the challenge of the falling birth rate, particularly among the working classes. “It will undoubtedly work with people who are already convinced, with the urban lower middle class who were still hesitant. But in popular circles, the financial argument will not be enough.” The problem with this new “income” is that it will mainly benefit those who already have a good salary. “This is not what will revive French demography,” believes the sociologist.
Above all, it should not answer the thorny question of equal recourse to this leave, taken by the woman in 94% of cases. “All surveys show that fathers want to get more involved. And all the reports recommend better sharing the burden between the two parents. But we will not succeed until we question the organization of work. For me, we must make paternity leave compulsory and normalize a long absence of parents after the birth,” replies Violaine Dutrop.
“Even for 0 euros, I would have done it”
The author of the work “Maternity, paternity, parity” does not hide her disappointment with this new leave, which will not be enough, according to her, to convince dads to take advantage of it. “We were promised remuneration at 80% of the salary and we learned that we will only have 50%. When we know that in half of the couples, it is the man who earns the most, we can guess that the choice will be quickly made.” In many cases, it is therefore the mother who is “designated” as a volunteer to look after the kids. “Even at 0 euros, I would still have done it. Because I wanted to see my sons grow up and I couldn’t see myself leaving my partner to struggle with two children of her own. It wasn’t a vacation. It was like a timeless period where work was far away. But I could not have extended the leave, because financially, it was no longer possible,” testifies Antoine. He requested two leaves of absence, two months and one month, after the birth of each of his children. “All my friends thought it was great.” But none of them took the plunge.
It must be said that in our society where the issue of gender equality has clearly developed, not everyone is in the same boat. A construction worker in a rural area will probably not be seen in the same light if he is absent for months to look after his children as a Parisian executive. “The problem is that it is up to each person to negotiate with their employer. For the latter, it’s as if their employee was going on a little vacation. But it’s not that. If we really want demographic rearmament, we must put an end to discreet fatherhood and assume it,” assures Violaine Dutrop. And offer childcare places in crèches or with childminders after leave.
Parental income established?
The latter recognizes, however, that this short format may be suitable for all those who fear for their career, or about moving away from employment. By leaving for three months, the commitment remains modest. “Until our society recognizes the social function of motherhood, we will not be able to move forward. Why not create a parental income that would allow people to lose nothing? », asks Raymond Debord.
This is what certain unions demanded from the Secretary of State, recalling that existing parental leave should not be abolished. Time will tell if she heard them.