The pregnancy of the mayor of Poitiers, illustration of the legal void surrounding the maternity of elected officials

Léonore Moncond’huy, EELV mayor of Poitiers in Vienne, is pregnant and plans to be on maternity leave, a provision which is not provided for by law for elected officials, whether they are mayors or parliamentarians.

It’s not easy to become a mother when you’re mayor, as the situation of Léonore Moncond’huy illustrates. The EELV mayor of Poitiers, in Vienne, is pregnant and intends to take maternity leave. But the law does not provide such provisions for elected officials, whether they are mayors or parliamentarians. Léonore Moncond’huy will take a two-month break from mid-March, but she points out that she had to tinker to get replaced and that she will lose pay. Parliamentarians are faced with another problem: the Constitution prevents them from being replaced by their substitute during their maternity leave. Two situations which demonstrate the difficult handling of motherhood by female politicians.

Léonore Moncond’huy admits to having “tinkered” to go on maternity leave. Because the law does not provides no mechanism to compensate for the loss of income of mayors and nothing is thought of to guarantee their interim status either. Result, to give birth, the mayor of Poitiers will stop between March 15 and May 15, she will be replaced by two of her deputies, but each half-time. And she will lose her salary since she will no longer receive her official allowances, but only those from Health Insurance. By raising awareness about her situation, the elected official wishes to change maternity, paternity and adoption leave for elected officials.

“We have a situation of total inequality between men and women.” reacted Johanna Rolland, guest on franceinfo on Wednesday February 21. The socialist mayor of Nantes, also president of Urban France, the association of large cities, was contacted by Léonore Moncond’huy to change the law. Precisely, two transpartisan bills are on the table of the National Assembly and the Senate to strengthen the status of local elected officials. “We will make proposed amendments to finally resolve this situation which in reality seems quite eccentric”, assured Johanna Rolland. The Association of Mayors of France (AMF), also alerted by Léonore Moncond’huy, says it supports the mayor of Poitiers and works to better reconcile professional and private life in the exercise of a mandate.

The law is also silent for women parliamentarians

In Parliament too, elected women who wish to become mothers must adapt. Like the Renaissance MP for Sarthe, Julie Delpech, who worked until the day before her delivery last July: “I no longer traveled too far and I did a lot of videoconference meetings.” It was impossible for her to be replaced by her substitute, because maternity is not one of the reasons for replacement provided for by the Constitution. She therefore had to manage and send a voting delegation every week to keep her voice in the Assembly. “It was managed as best as possible, agrees the MP, and even if it is sometimes DIY, there are certain things that have been put in place to allow us not to lose this important voice in the hemicycle, which is moreover a relative majority.”

A constitutional bill was tabled in the Assembly in March 2023 to alleviate this problem. But Julie Delpech is not in favor of it. “Our substitutes are people, for the most part, who have jobs and so having them give up everything to sit for five months in our place is difficult,” she maintains.

“An unfinished parity”

The legislation does not allow for true equality between the sexes, recalls Fiona Texeire, co-founder of the Observatory of Sexist and Sexual Violence in Politics. “Women have been eligible for election in France for 80 years and the question of maternity of elected officials is still not resolved, indicates the political science teacher. This underlines that the functioning of institutions was designed by and for men. This is why today we still have 60% of parliamentarians and more than 80% of mayors who are men. underlines Fiona Texeire.

“We must be proactive, if there is not a strong commitment from the executive these issues will not succeed. If they do not succeed, it means that women are prevented from participating in politics in the same conditions as their male colleagues. And that means that we have unfinished parity, that we have an unfinished democracy.”

Fiona Texeire, co-founder of the Observatory of Gender-Based and Sexual Violence

at franceinfo

But for MP Julie Delpech, the question raised goes well beyond politics. “We must not say that it is harder when you are elected than for others, she emphasizes. What I noticed while being pregnant and an MP is that the problem is when everything rests on us. And this is the case of a woman business manager, a self-employed farmer…” The elected official also submitted the subject to the women’s rights delegation of the National Assembly to improve this situation.