Spain extends generous new-born leave for fathers

The Spanish government has said new plans to give both mothers and fathers an additional week off work after the birth of a child are a sign of "moving towards feminism and equality ... and there will be no turning back".

The comment was made by the country's Labor Minister Yolanda Diaz, as the government extended what was already one of Europe's most generous paid parental leave allowances to 17 weeks.

The change also means Spain now joins Finland in being the only country in the European Union to offer the same length of paid leave to both parents.

"Four out of 10 men in our country now take parental leave, and this is a feminist achievement," said Diaz, with her ministry adding that the measure was to ensure employment was "not a barrier when deciding to start a family".

In addition, there is also now the facility to take a further two weeks of paid leave up until a child's eighth birthday. And it has been reported that the government would like to increase paid parental leave to 20 weeks before the end of the current legislative term, in 2027.

Diaz is the head of the left-wing Sumar party, which is in a coalition government with the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.

During the 2023 election campaign, the parties promised 20 weeks of parental leave, and other parties, including the hard-left Podemos, whose parliamentary support will be needed to make the proposal become law, want even more time off for parents. Diaz said that across the parliamentary divide, different groupings had "responded well" to the suggested law change.

Earlier this year, The Guardian newspaper reported that a court in the southeastern Spanish region of Murcia had ruled that a single mother was entitled to the combined parental leave of both parents, on the grounds that all children should be given the same treatment, regardless of their family circumstances.

After her initial request was rejected by social services and the courts, she took her case to the regional high court, which ruled in her favor, granting her 32 weeks, combining the then-16 week allowance that would have been applicable to each parent.

In early 2020, the newly-formed five-party coalition government in Finland announced plans for parental leave parity, in a move that it said would "promote wellbeing and gender equality". At the time, the leaders of all the governing coalition parties were women.

Bulgaria offers the longest maternity leave in the EU, but is one of several countries that have less generous allowances for fathers.