Maternity leave in Germany
by Sarah
Following on from my blog on the new EC proposals for maternity leave and my blog on maternity leave in France, the position is quite different in Germany.
In Germany the compulsory leave for most women is 14 weeks! 6 weeks before and eight weeks after birth, paid at 100% of their last months average salary. Parental leave is available for both parents for the first 14 months of a child’s life during which time parents receive 67% pay. Parents can claim the allowance for a maximum of 12 months or for a total of 14 months if both parents take it. Parents can also take up a further period of unpaid leave until the child is 3.
Again despite the equality of the leave on offer, statistics show that women take 12 months and men take 2 months. There is also very limited take up of the extended unpaid leave period which would be the same with our unpaid parental leave provisions. This could reflect the traditional image of the roles but shows that economics is not behind the reason why mean don’t us the paid leave period in the same way as women.
Similar Posts:
