Written by Verena Kern and Marie Lecerf.
This infographic aims to present the current maternity and paternity leave situation in EU Member States. Most EU countries also grant an additional period of parental leave, but parental leave is not covered in this infographic.
[Given the complexity of national legislation, differences between the Member States, and the need to facilitate the presentation of the data in graphic form, simplifications have been made in respect of a number of countries. The terms of legislation as it applies in the public sector are illustrated in cases where there is a difference with the private sector. Countries are ordered by the length of maternity or paternity leave granted. Given that national legislation may express leave periods in months, weeks, calendar days or working days, for the purposes of comparison, they are presented here in rounded weeks.
Some countries also have ceilings on the amount of money paid during maternity/paternity leave, but these are not addressed in this publication. When national legislation does not state exactly when the maternity leave is supposed to start, the earliest possible time was taken as the starting point. " data-image-caption="
Maternity leave
" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/epthinktank.eu/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Maternity-leave\_1.png?fit=300%2C157&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/epthinktank.eu/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Maternity-leave\_1.png?fit=820%2C429&ssl=1" data-id="69758" src="https://i0.wp.com/epthinktank.eu/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Maternity-leave\_1.png?resize=820%2C429&ssl=1" alt="Maternity leave" class="wp-image-69758" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/epthinktank.eu/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Maternity-leave\_1.png?resize=1500%2C785&ssl=1 1500w, https://i0.wp.com/epthinktank.eu/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Maternity-leave\_1.png?resize=300%2C157&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/epthinktank.eu/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Maternity-leave\_1.png?resize=200%2C105&ssl=1 200w, https://i0.wp.com/epthinktank.eu/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Maternity-leave\_1.png?resize=768%2C402&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/epthinktank.eu/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Maternity-leave\_1.png?resize=1536%2C804&ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/epthinktank.eu/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Maternity-leave\_1.png?resize=2048%2C1072&ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/epthinktank.eu/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Maternity-leave\_1.png?resize=191%2C100&ssl=1 191w, https://i0.wp.com/epthinktank.eu/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Maternity-leave\_1.png?resize=500%2C262&ssl=1 500w, https://i0.wp.com/epthinktank.eu/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Maternity-leave\_1.png?resize=690%2C361&ssl=1 690w, https://i0.wp.com/epthinktank.eu/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Maternity-leave\_1.png?resize=1024%2C536&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/epthinktank.eu/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Maternity-leave\_1.png?w=1640&ssl=1 1640w, https://i0.wp.com/epthinktank.eu/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Maternity-leave\_1.png?w=2460&ssl=1 2460w" sizes="(max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px">](https://epthinktank.eu/?attachment_id=69758)
Maternity leave
[Given the complexity of national legislation, differences between the Member States, and the need to facilitate the presentation of the data in graphic form, simplifications have been made in respect of a number of countries. The terms of legislation as it applies in the public sector are illustrated in cases where there is a difference with the private sector. Countries are ordered by the length of maternity or paternity leave granted. Given that national legislation may express leave periods in months, weeks, calendar days or working days, for the purposes of comparison, they are presented here in rounded weeks.
Some countries also have ceilings on the amount of money paid during maternity/paternity leave, but these are not addressed in this publication. When national legislation does not state exactly when the maternity leave is supposed to start, the earliest possible time was taken as the starting point. " data-image-caption="
Paternity leave
" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/epthinktank.eu/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Paternity-leave\_2.png?fit=300%2C300&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/epthinktank.eu/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Paternity-leave\_2.png?fit=820%2C820&ssl=1" data-id="69760" src="https://i0.wp.com/epthinktank.eu/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Paternity-leave\_2.png?resize=820%2C820&ssl=1" alt="Paternity leave" class="wp-image-69760">](https://epthinktank.eu/?attachment_id=69760)
Paternity leave
Current situation
Maternity rights are set out in the 1992 Pregnant Workers Directive. This EU legislation sets the minimum period for maternity leave at 14 weeks, with 2 weeks’ compulsory leave before and/or after confinement and an adequate allowance subject to national legislation. A right to 2 weeks’ paternity leave was introduced in the Work-Life Balance Directive for parents and carers, which entered into force on 1 August 2019. Member States had until 2 August 2022 to adopt the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with the directive. The right to paternity leave cannot be made subject to a period of work qualification or to a length of service qualification.
The European Commission proposed the Work-Life Balance Directive following the withdrawal of an earlier proposal for a maternity leave directive, which would have extended the period of maternity leave. The new directive did not do so, but it was expected to be particularly beneficial for gender equality in the labour market. As part of the European Pillar of Social Rights (Article 9), it sought to address women’s under-representation in the labour market, help them balance their work and family lives more easily and encourage a better distribution of caring responsibilities between women and men.
Explanation of the graphics
Given the complexity of national legislation, differences between the Member States, and the need to facilitate the presentation of the data in graphic form, simplifications have been made in respect of a number of countries. The terms of legislation as it applies in the public sector are illustrated in cases where there is a difference with the private sector. Countries are ordered by the length of maternity or paternity leave granted. Given that national legislation may express leave periods in months, weeks, calendar days or working days, for the purposes of comparison, they are presented here in rounded weeks.
Some countries also have ceilings on the amount of money paid during maternity/paternity leave, but these are not addressed in this publication. When national legislation does not state exactly when the maternity leave is supposed to start, the earliest possible time was taken as the starting point.
Read this infographic on ‘Maternity and paternity leave in the EU‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.
Members' Research Service
The central task of the Members Research Service is to ensure that all Members of the European Parliament are provided with analysis of, and research on, policy issues relating to the European Union, in order to assist them in their parliamentary work.