The Senate approved, Monday, November 24, the creation of a new parental leave, which allows parents to each take up to two additional months to welcome their child starting January 1, 2027.
This additional maternity leave, which would be added to existing paternity leave and paternity leave, is one of the measures in the draft 2026 Social Security budget. Its implementation date is still debated, the initial text provided for implementation for children born or adopted starting in July 2027. Deputies voted to advance the date to January 1, 2026. Senators voted to postpone this date to January 1, 2027.
Announced in January 2024 by President Emmanuel Macron with the intention of “demographic rearmament” Facing a decreasing birth rate, this leave can be taken by each parent simultaneously or in turn with each other.
The senators returned to the provision introduced by the deputies stating that leave of at least one month should not be taken simultaneously by both parents, with the specific aim of a better distribution of duties, so that one or the other father spends time alone with the child. They also voted so that this leave could not be split.
Leave is designed for greater flexibility and equality
For the Minister Delegate responsible for equality between women and men, Aurore Bergé, this is a question “provide more flexibility” to parents, for example bringing up cases where mothers need support during the postpartum period, depression which sometimes occurs in mothers after giving birth.
Socialist senator Laurence Rossignol welcomed this “nice size”so that the link is not just that “between mother and child in the first two months of life”a condition, according to him, “for a fairer distribution of mental burden in the future”.
The amount of compensation must be determined by decree, the government has indicated that compensation will be given up to 70% of net salary in the first month and 60% in the second month.
Ms Rossignol called for the loss of income to be less significant, so that the measure remains attractive to fathers, while men still earn more on average than women.
This new leave will not replace parental leave, which can be taken until the child is three years old and allows you to receive around 400 euros per month.
The government plans to extend the age from 14 years to 18 years with an increase in family allowances for the second child, to fund this new maternity leave. But senators opposed it by voting for an amendment from centrist senator Olivier Henno (UDI), mainly with support from the left.
