Maternity, Paternity and Parental Leave by Country
How long each parent can be away, who pays and how much, and what happens to annual leave in the meantime — in 21 countries, each sourced to the statute that creates the right.
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Every country here protects a mother's job around the birth and pays something while she is away — but the design differs completely. Spain gives each parent 19 weeks at full pay; Sweden pools 480 days for both parents to share; the UK offers 52 weeks of maternity leave with 39 paid at a flat rate; Australia provides 12 months of unpaid leave with 26 weeks of government pay at the minimum wage; Switzerland stops at 14 weeks for mothers and two for fathers, with no parental leave at all. Germany, uniquely, still has no statutory paternity leave, while Finland and Norway build the whole system around reserved, non-transferable time for each parent.
Every country compared
| Country | Maternity | Paternity / partner | Parental | Who pays |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | 12 months unpaid job-protected leave (extendable to 24) for either parent | Included: partners share the same unpaid entitlement | Government Parental Leave Pay: 26 weeks (130 days) from 1 July 2026, 20 days reserved per partner | Services Australia at the national minimum wage, plus 12% super |
| Austria | 8 weeks before + 8 weeks after birth (12 in special cases) at full net pay (Wochengeld) | Papamonat: 1 month within 91 days of birth, unpaid but with the Familienzeitbonus | Elternkarenz until the child is 2, per parent; Kinderbetreuungsgeld account or income-related | ÖGK (Wochengeld, Kinderbetreuungsgeld, Familienzeitbonus) |
| Belgium | 15 weeks (6 before incl. 1 mandatory, 9 after); 82% then 75% capped | 20 days: 3 at 100% (employer), 17 at 82% (mutualité) | 4 months full-time per parent until age 12, with an ONEM allowance | Mutualité/INAMI (maternity, most of birth leave); ONEM (parental allowance) |
| Czechia | 28 weeks (37 for multiples), starting 6–8 weeks before birth, at 70% of the reduced base | 2 weeks within 6 weeks of birth at 70% (otcovská) | Rodičovská dovolená until age 3; parental allowance of CZK 350,000 per child, drawn flexibly | ČSSZ (maternity and paternity benefit); Labour Office (parental allowance) |
| Denmark | 4 weeks before birth + 24 weeks after (2 mandatory), with barselsdagpenge | 24 weeks after birth; 11 earmarked (2 at birth + 9), 13 transferable | The 24 weeks each are the parental leave; unpaid leave rights extend it | Udbetaling Danmark (barselsdagpenge, capped); many employers pay salary under agreements |
| Finland | Pregnancy allowance for 40 working days, then the mother’s share of parental allowance | 160 working days of parental allowance for each parent (63 transferable) | 320 days in total per child; child-care leave until age 3 with home care allowance | Kela, income-based (about 70% for average earners); employers pay only under agreements |
| France | 16 weeks (6 before + 10 after); 26 from the third child | 25 days (32 for multiples) + 3 days' birth leave | Congé parental up to age 3, unpaid by the employer; PreParE allowance from CAF | CPAM daily allowances (maternity, paternity); employer (birth leave); CAF (PreParE) |
| Germany | 6 weeks before + 8 after birth at full net pay (Mutterschutz) | None statutory — fathers use Elternzeit and Elterngeld | Elternzeit up to 3 years per parent; Elterngeld 65–67% of net for 12 (+2) months | Health insurer + employer (Mutterschutz); Elterngeldstelle (Elterngeld) |
| Greece | 17 weeks (119 days): 8 before and 9 after the birth | 14 working days, paid, around the birth | 4 months per parent until the child is 8; first 2 months paid by DYPA at the minimum wage | e-EFKA and the employer (maternity); employer (paternity); DYPA (parental and the special 9-month protection leave) |
| Hungary | CSED: 24 weeks at 100% of daily average earnings | 10 working days at 100%, within 2 months of the birth | Szülői szabadság 44 working days per parent at 10% of absentee pay; GYED to age 2, GYES to age 3 | Health insurance fund (CSED, GYED); employer, reimbursed (paternity); state (GYES) |
| Ireland | 26 weeks paid (Maternity Benefit) + 16 weeks unpaid | 2 weeks (Paternity Benefit) | Parent's leave 9 weeks each (paid benefit); parental leave 26 weeks unpaid per child | Department of Social Protection (flat-rate benefits) |
| Italy | 5 months compulsory at 80% (INPS); often 100% by CCNL | 10 days compulsory at 100% within 5 months of birth | Up to 10–11 months shared; 3 months at 80%, the rest at 30% | INPS, advanced by the employer in payroll |
| Netherlands | 16 weeks (4–6 before birth) at 100% up to the maximum daily wage | 1 week at 100% (employer) + 5 weeks at 70% (UWV) in the first 6 months | 26 × weekly hours per parent until age 8; 9 weeks paid at 70% in year 1 | UWV (maternity, extra birth leave, paid parental); employer (first birth week) |
| Norway | 3 weeks before birth + a 15-week mother’s quota (19 at 80%); first 6 weeks mandatory | 15-week father’s quota (19 at 80%) + 2 weeks’ care leave at the birth | 49 weeks at 100% or 59 at 80% in total, incl. 16 (18) shared weeks; unpaid leave to 12 months each | NAV, capped at six times the basic amount (6G); employers often top up |
| Poland | 20 weeks (first 14 for the mother) at 100% | 2 weeks at 100%, within 12 months of birth | 41 weeks (43 for multiples), 9 non-transferable per parent, at 70% | ZUS (advanced by larger employers in payroll) |
| Portugal | 42 days mandatory after birth within the initial leave of 120/150 days | 28 mandatory days (7 right after birth, rest within 42 days) + 7 optional simultaneous days, at 100% | Initial leave 120 days at 100% or 150 at 80%; +30 days if shared (150 at 100% / 180 at 83%); 3 months extra each at 25% | Segurança Social (subsídio parental) on the reference remuneration |
| Romania | 126 calendar days (63 before + 63 after) at 85%; at least 42 days after the birth | 10 working days, 15 with a childcare course, at full pay | Child-raising leave until the child is 2 (3 if disabled) at 85% of net income, with 2 months reserved for the other parent | FNUASS (maternity); employer (paternity); state budget through the county agency (child-raising indemnity) |
| Spain | 19 weeks per parent at 100% (6 mandatory after birth) | 19 weeks — the same entitlement for each parent | 2 of the 19 weeks usable until age 8; excedencia up to 3 years unpaid | Social Security (INSS) at 100% of the regulatory base |
| Sweden | No separate maternity leave; 480 days of parental benefit per child | 10 days at birth (tillfällig föräldrapenning) + reserved parental days | 480 days per child: 390 at ~80% (capped), 90 at the minimum level; 90 reserved per parent | Försäkringskassan |
| Switzerland | 14 weeks at 80% (EO), capped at CHF 220 a day; 8 weeks work ban | 2 weeks at 80% (EO) within 6 months | None statutory | Erwerbsersatzordnung (EO/APG) via the compensation office |
| United Kingdom | 52 weeks; 39 paid (6 at 90%, then the flat rate) | 2 weeks at the flat rate; a day-one right since April 2026 | Shared Parental Leave up to 50 weeks (37 paid); 18 weeks unpaid per child | Employer, reclaimed from HMRC |
Statutory entitlements. Collective agreements and company policies frequently top up pay to full salary or add leave. Benefit rates and ceilings change every year; the country pages link the current source.
Three patterns worth knowing
- The state pays, the employer plans. In almost every country the money comes from social insurance, not payroll. What the employer owns is the job protection, the notice handling, the cover, and the holiday that keeps accruing.
- Reserved, non-transferable weeks are the direction of travel. The EU Work-Life Balance Directive requires two months of parental leave per parent that cannot be transferred; Spain, Poland, Italy, Sweden and the Netherlands have all built that in. Germany has not implemented the paternity part.
- Annual leave keeps running. Maternity leave accrues holiday everywhere in this table, and several countries oblige the employer to grant the untaken holiday immediately on return — a liability that quietly grows while someone is away.
If you employ people in more than one country
A parent in Spain returns after 19 fully paid weeks with their holiday intact; a parent in Australia may be away a year on government pay with no holiday accruing; a parent in Sweden may take leave in fractions for years. The employer's record has to hold the leave itself, the accrual rule that applies to it, and the return date. Leavo keeps long leaves on the same calendar as holidays and sick days per policy group; the annual leave table and sick leave table cover the other two entitlements, and our software comparison covers the tools.
Common questions
Which country gives fathers the most paid leave?
Finland, where each parent has 160 working days of parental allowance — about seven months — of which 97 cannot be transferred; Spain follows with an identical 19 weeks per parent at 100%, and Norway reserves a 15-week quota for each parent. At the other end, Germany has no statutory paternity leave and Switzerland stops at two weeks.
Who pays maternity pay — the employer or the state?
Mostly the state or social insurance: CPAM in France, UWV in the Netherlands, INSS in Spain, INPS in Italy, Försäkringskassan in Sweden, Kela in Finland, NAV in Norway, Udbetaling Danmark, the ÖGK in Austria, ZUS in Poland, the ČSSZ in Czechia, Segurança Social in Portugal, the mutualité in Belgium, the EO scheme in Switzerland, the Department of Social Protection in Ireland and Services Australia. The UK is the exception in form — the employer pays Statutory Maternity Pay but reclaims most or all of it from HMRC. Germany splits it between the health insurer and an employer top-up.
Is parental leave paid?
Often only partly. Sweden, Spain, the Netherlands (nine weeks), Poland, Italy (30%, three months at 80%) and Germany (Elterngeld) pay for some or all of it; the UK, Ireland and Belgium pay a flat allowance or nothing for ordinary parental leave; France pays a flat family allowance; Australia pays the national minimum wage for 26 weeks; Switzerland has no parental leave at all.
Does annual leave accrue during maternity and parental leave?
During maternity leave, yes, everywhere in this table. During long parental leave it varies: full accrual in the UK, Spain and Poland, accrual for a capped number of days in Sweden and Belgium, possible reduction by one-twelfth per month in Germany and Switzerland, and none during unpaid parental leave in Australia or under most Italian collective agreements.
How we built this
Each country is summarised from the statute or agency guidance named on its page and linked as the primary source, with the reform date where a rule changed recently. Amounts that change annually are described by their rule rather than a figure. The figures are downloadable from our open data page under CC BY 4.0, and the policy questions are covered in our guides. See our methodology.