This Tuesday, January 16, 2024, during a press conference, Emmanuel Macron announced the creation of birth leave aimed at replacing parental leave. Zoom on this new device.
Among Emmanuel Macron’s announcements, this Tuesday January 16, 2024, the establishment birth leave caught the attention. Indeed, during his press conference, the President of the Republic explained to the French that parental leave would soon disappear in favor of birth leave. “After the extension of paternity leave, I deeply believe that the establishment of a new birth leave would be a useful element”, he said. But what are the differences between these two devices?
Birth leave “will be better paid and will allow both parents to be with their child for six months if they wish”, explains Emmanuel Macron. On the other hand, it will be much shorter than parental leave. “Above all, it will be shorter than the current parental leave, which can last up to three years and which keeps many women away from the job market,” specifies the head of state. Thus, birth leave will only be six months compared to a maximum of three years for parental leave.
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How much for this new birth leave?
During his press conference, Emmanuel Macron did not go into details. However, this Wednesday January 17, Aurore Bergé, the Minister Delegate in charge of Equality between Women and Men and the Fight against Discrimination, provided more details at the microphone of South Radio. The minister explains that the 6 months of leave are done by adding paternity or maternity leave to this new birth leave. And regarding remuneration, “the objective is that it is proportionate to the salary. It will not be 100% maintenance of the salary, that is obvious”, indicates the minister.
Furthermore, parents who wish to benefit from this new leave will have the choice of taking it together or separately. For the government, the objective of this leave is not to push women away from the labor market. Indeed “staying away from the job market for too long ends up create fractures”, according to Prisca Thévenot, the government spokesperson. The latter added Franceinfo that “France needs to be a country where we are able to project ourselves, and when the desire to have a child is there, it must be able to be done peacefully.”
A measure which comes in a context of a drastic drop in the number of births. According to the latest data from INSEE, France has seen the birth 678,000 babies in 2023. Or 6.6% less than the previous year? But above all, the lowest number of births since the end of the Second World War.
Passionate about women’s news, Agathe has been deciphering the latest trends for aufeminin since 2022. Her favorite areas? Psychology, nutrition and well-being advice, without forgetting the tips…