Parental leave is dead, but what is the alternative? During his press conference on January 16, the Head of State, Emmanuel Macron, announced a new system, presented as more attractive and more egalitarian than parental leave, which was in decline. Indeed, in 2020, only 246,000 parents, compared to 500,000 in 2013, had requested one-year parental leave renewable for up to three years. Ninety-five percent of beneficiaries were women. A situation which would be linked to the low amount of the monthly parental leave benefit of 428.71 euros maximum.
Within couples, working women, generally paid less than their partners, are more likely to put their careers on hold. But the bac + 5 who receive a good salary are increasingly hesitant to temporarily abandon their job to take care of the newborn. Ultimately, “It is mainly mothers with low levels of education and income who request parental leave”, notes sociologist Julien Damon, co-author in 2021 of a report on reconciling professional and family life. And this leave would often be taken and extended not by choice, but by lack of having found a childcare solution, harming the employability of the mothers concerned.
The announced birth leave aims to remedy these flaws, but over a period of six months instead of three years: parents should receive more attractive remuneration, the amount of which we do not yet know, but for each parent. In the trade union world, critical voices are being raised, both on the amount of compensation and its duration.
Critics of the unions
Maximalist, the CGT proposes to set compensation at 100% of previous income, whatever its level. Pascale Coton, vice-president of the CFTC responsible in particular for gender equality, is pleading with the government for compensation equivalent to 85% of previous income, with a ceiling for very high incomes. Furthermore, the CFTC wants parents to be able to use these six months of leave at their convenience, simultaneously or successively. This is so that the child can have parental support throughout his first year of existence.
The CFDT, for its part, is pleading for a decreasing rate: leave would be paid at 100% for low salaries but 80% for the highest. Béatrice Lestic, national secretary in charge of professional equality at the CFDT, is also concerned about the consequences of the shortening to six months: “Mothers who have not found a childcare solution at the end of this period could be forced to resign, even though the current system at least guarantees them getting their job back for up to three years. »
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