It’s Mat Leave Monday! Over the course of almost a year I have researched maternity leave in 13 countries and 1 Canadian province. I have learned a lot about maternity leave and how it works. Today I am going to summarize all that I have learned about maternity leave in one handy little blog post.
Here is my brief rundown of each country and province, in alphabetical order:
Australia
Leave is unpaid, although employers may offer plans
52 weeks of unpaid leave
Fathers may share leave with mothers
Adoptive parents are entitled to the same leave as biological parents
Families earning less than $75,000 AUD per year qualify for a $5000 AUD baby bonus (approx $4300 CAD or $3500 USD)
Note – This past May the government announced plans to introduce paid maternity leave in January of 2011.
Canada
Leave is paid through the federal government
Birth mothers qualify for 15 weeks of paid maternity benefits (plus a 2 week unpaid waiting period)
Parents qualify for 35 weeks of paid parental benefits
Fathers or partners may share parental leave
Adoptive parents are entitled to parental leave only
To qualify for leave you must have worked 600 insurable hours in the past year, or since your last claim (whichever is shorter)
Benefits are paid at 55% of your average income, to a weekly maximum of $447 CAD
France
Leave is paid through the federal government
Birth mothers qualify for 6 weeks of paid maternity benefits before giving birth and 10 weeks after, or 8 weeks before and 18 weeks after if it’s your 3rd or subsequent child
Parents qualify for 3 years of parental leave
Fathers or partners receive 11 days of paid paternity leave and may share parental leave
Adoptive parents are entitled to 10 weeks of paid adoption leave and qualify for parental leave
All parents qualify for leave
Maternity benefits are paid at a mother’s full net pay, and parents are eligible for an allowance during parental leave which varies depending on if you’re working part time or not at all, and how many children you have
Germany
Leave is paid through the federal government
Birth mothers qualify for 6 weeks of paid maternity benefits before the birth and 8 weeks after
Parents qualify for up to 3 years unpaid parental leave, or Elternzeit
Fathers or partners may share parental leave only
Adoptive parents are entitled to parental leave only
The Child Allowance, or Elterngeld, provides for pay during parental leave, offering 12 months pay to mothers only, or 14 months if parental leave is shared with the father
During maternity leave mothers receive full pay, and under the Elterngeld they receive 67% of pay to a monthly minimum of €300 (approx $464 CAD or $424 USD) and maximum of €1800 (approx $2790 CAD or $2540 USD)
India
Leave is paid for by employers
Birth mothers qualify for 12 weeks of paid maternity benefits which may start up to 6 weeks before the birth
Fathers do not qualify for any sort of leave
Adoptive parents do not qualify for any sort of leave
To qualify for maternity leave a mother must have worked at least 80 days in the previous 12 months
During maternity leave mothers receive full pay
After returning to work, women may receive twice daily nursing breaks until their baby is 15 months old
Ireland
Leave is paid through the federal government
Mothers qualify for 26 weeks of paid maternity leave, 2 weeks of which must be claimed before the birth
Fathers or partners do not qualify for leave
Adoptive parents are entitled to 24 weeks of paid adoption leave
To qualify for leave you must have paid into the plan for between 39 and 52 weeks, depending on your employment situation
Benefits are paid at 80% of your average income, to a weekly maximum of €280.00 (approx $450 CAD or $358 USD), and a weekly minimum of €230.3 (approx $370 CAD or $300 USD)
Netherlands
Leave is paid through the federal government
Mothers qualify for 16 weeks of paid maternity leave, 4-6 weeks of which is claimed before the birth
Fathers receive 2 days of paid paternity leave and 2 days of ‘other short term absence leave’ for the birth and the registration of the birth
Adoptive parents are each entitled to 4 weeks of paid adoption leave
All parents qualify for 26 weeks of unpaid parental leave, which is often taken as a part time leave (so you work half-time hours for a year)
To qualify for parental leave you must have been with your employer for a year before the leave
Maternity and adoption benefits are paid at 100% of your average income, to a daily maximum of €174.64 (approx $277 CAD or $235 USD)
New Zealand
Leave is paid through the federal government
Parents receive 14 weeks of paid leave, 6 weeks of which may be taken before the birth. They are also entitled to 38 additional weeks of unpaid leave
Fathers or partners may share leave, and may also receive 2 weeks of additional unpaid paternity leave
Adoptive parents are entitled to the same leave as birth parents.
To qualify for leave you must have worked 10 hours / week or more for the same employer, with a minimum of 1 hour in any given week and 40 hours in any given month, for at least 6 months
Benefits are paid at your full salary, to a weekly maximum of $407.36 NZD (approx $278 CAD or $223 USD)
Norway
Leave is paid through the federal government
Parents receive 44 or 54 weeks of paid leave, depending on the plan they choose, and will receive longer leaves for multiple births
3 weeks of leave must be taken by the mother before the birth, and the first 6 weeks after birth is reserved for her exclusive use
6 weeks of leave are reserved for the exclusive use of the father, and the remaining weeks may be shared between parents
Adoptive parents are not entitled to the 3 weeks leave before birth, but otherwise receive the same benefits as birth parents
To qualify for leave you must have earned 6 months of pensionable income in the 10 months preceding leave
If you choose 54 weeks of leave your benefits are paid at 80% of your salary to a weekly maximum of roughly $1068 CAD, and if you choose 44 weeks your benefits are paid at 100% of your salary to a weekly maximum of roughly $1335 CAD
Quebec
Leave is paid through the provincial government
Birth mothers qualify for 18 weeks of paid maternity benefits
Parents qualify for 32 weeks of paid parental benefits
Fathers or partners receive 5 weeks of paid paternity benefits and may share parental leave
Adoptive parents receive 37 weeks of paid parental leave
To qualify for leave you must have earned at least $2000 CAD in insurable income in the past 52 weeks
Maternity, paternity, and a portion of adoption and parental benefits are paid at 70% of your average income up to a weekly maximum of $834.61 CAD. The remaining benefits are paid at 55% of your average income up to a weekly maximum of $655.76 CAD
Parents may opt for the special plan, which is shorter but pays out at 75% of average income up to a weekly maximum of $894.23 CAD
South Africa
Leave is paid through the federal government
Mothers qualify for 4 months paid maternity leave, which can start up to 4 weeks before delivery
Fathers may claim 3 days family responsibility leave
Adoptive parents are entitled to 3 days family responsibility leave
Benefits are paid for a maximum of 121 days. You must have worked 6 days for each day of benefits you claim – so you have to work 2 years to take the full 121 days.
Benefits are paid at between 38% and 58% of your average income
Sweden
Leave is paid through the federal government
Parents each receive 240 days of paid leave, and will receive longer leaves for multiple births
60 days are reserved for the exclusive use of each parent, and up to 180 days may be transferred, meaning the total paid leave is 480 days
Single parents receive the full 480 days for themselves
Adoptive parents receive the same benefits as birth parents
All parents qualify for some sort of paid leave
The first 390 days of leave are paid at 80% of your average income, to a daily maximum of SEK 872 (approx $131 CAD or $114 USD), and a minimum of SEK 180 (approx $27 CAD or $23.50 USD), and the remainder is paid out at SEK 180 per day
United Kingdom
Leave is paid for by employers, or through the government for those who don’t receive employment benefits
Mothers qualify for 52 weeks of maternity leave
Fathers receive 1-2 weeks of paid paternity leave
Adoptive parents are entitled to the same benefits as birth parents
To qualify for leave you must have worked for your employer for at least 26 weeks by the 15th week before the baby is due
Benefits are paid at 90% of your weekly salary for the first 6 weeks, and then you receive £123.06 a week for the next 33 weeks. The last 13 weeks are unpaid
United States of America
Leave is unpaid, although employers may offer plans
Employees may receive 12 weeks of job protected leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
Fathers may receive the same leave as mothers
Adoptive parents are entitled to the same leave as biological parents
To qualify for FMLA you must have worked for an employer with 50 or more employees in a 75 mile radius for at least 12 months, and you must have worked at least 1250 hours in the last year
Note – California and New Jersey offer government paid maternity leave, and movements are active in other states to introduce similar initiatives.
This will be the last tour around the world of international maternity leave. Looking at this list it feels like quite the accomplishment, though, I must say. I hope you’ve enjoyed it as much as I have.
PS – There’s still lots of time left to sign up for the Carnival of Maternity Leave. I am hard at work sewing a fabulous baby blanket at this very moment, which will be part of the prize pack for one lucky participant. Also there will be chocolate. So please, if you have any thoughts about maternity leave consider writing a post for the carnival, or submitting a guest post to me. You don’t have to be on maternity leave, or to have even ever had a baby. As long as you have something to say I’d love to have you!
Great post Amber!