Emmanuel Macron announces the transformation of parental leave into birth leave, “better paid” and “shorter”

This leave “will allow both parents to be with their child for six months if they wish,” said the Head of State during his press conference.

The rules will change for new parents. Emmanuel Macron announced, Tuesday January 16, the creation of a “birth leave” aimed at replacing the current parental leave, during his press conference at the Elysée. In November, Aurore Bergé, then Minister of Solidarity, had already promised on franceinfo the creation in 2025 of this “new law” for families.

What form could this new device take? This leave “will be better paid and will allow both parents to be with their child for six months if they wish”, specified the head of state. In November, Aurore Bergé explained that she wanted the aid to be calculated “in proportion to salary”. A parliamentary report published the same month proposed that this right be remunerated at “67% of salary”.

“Unlock the economic obstacles to the desire to have children”

Currently, parental leave, which can be requested from the end of maternity leave or adoption leave and until the child’s third birthday, can last up to one year, specifies the service-site. audience. It can then be renewed twice and therefore reach three years. The parent employed in the private sector who benefits from this has their salary suspended and can benefit from aid of 428.71 euros per month, specifies this same source.

The president considered that the current parental leave “creates a lot of anxiety because he is extremely little and poorly paid”and thus creates “impossible situations”. Current parental leave is only used by 0.8% of fathers, reported a study by the French Observatory of Economic Conditions published in 2021, compared to 14% of mothers. With this announcement, the Head of State seeks to “unblock the economic and social obstacles to the desire to have children”the Elysée told AFP.