This is an unprecedented decision! It is in Spain that a single mother is authorized to be able to combine two types of leave: maternity leave, but also paternity leave! Back on this decision ruled by a Spanish court that we can only welcome.
Being a single mother is not always easy, especially when it’s a first child and private life and professional life must be accumulated. While a study published recently by the journal The Lancet Public Health demonstrates theimportance of holidays for the mental health of the parents, it is an unprecedented decision that a court in Spain has applied. I’Spain is above all a country where parental rights are privileged and respected. Since January 1, 2021, the country has also become the first in the world to offer equal time off for maternity and paternity leave and above all paid at 100% for 16 weeks.
These weeks are divided so that the second parent is obliged to take at least six weeks leave when the child arrives. Then the ten following weeks can be taken to any time in the year following the birth of the baby. The Spanish government continues its progress in family law and women’s rights, there are few other major decisions that have been welcomed by the international scene. The adoption of menstrual leave, the distribution of period products within schools, and today this decision taken by the Social Chamber of the Superior Court of Justice of Catalonia.
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Prioritize the interests of the child
This is significant progress for all single mothers Spanish. The Superior Court of Justice of Catalonia has just validated a decision by the National Institute of Social Security allowing a single mother to extend her maternity leave by 16 weeks with paternity leave of the same duration. An action that therefore brings this mother’s leave to more than 32 weeks!
The judgment approving this decision explains that in this case, the Labor Code cannot prevail since it does not take into account “the particularities and specific needs of single-parent families “. The judge adds that this “would amount to introduce a difference in treatment compared to a group that has more difficulty reconciling work and family life”. A very nice way to show that Spanish justice will always prioritize the interests of the child.