Members of Parliament approve in committee the creation of a new birth leave

This additional birth leave, which would be added to existing maternity and paternity leave, is one of the measures in the draft Social Security budget for 2026.

This vote in committee is, however, only an indication, and the deputies will have to confirm it in the plenary session next week, where they will start from the initial text of the government, a rule for budgetary texts.

This leave, announced in January 2024 by President Emmanuel Macron with a view to a "demographic rearmament" in the face of the decline in the birth rate, can be taken by each parent simultaneously or alternately with the other.

The duration of the leave is one or two months, at the employee's choice, and these durations cannot be "split" into several shorter durations, the text specifies.

The amount of compensation is to be determined by decree, the government having indicated that he would be compensated at a rate of 70% of net salary in the first month and 60% in the second.

MoDem MP Anne Bergantz stated that she had tabled an amendment to eliminate this month-to-month reduction, but that it had not been deemed admissible.

Another amendment, from the general rapporteur Thibault Bazin (LR), was adopted, to allow the use of additional part-time birth leave.

"The fact of having to cease all professional activity (...) could indeed constitute an obstacle to using the scheme for financial or professional reasons," he argued.

He was supported in his efforts by Socialist MP Céline Thiébault-Martinez, who conducted an information mission on parental leave with him.

"You are undoubtedly aware of the effects of motherhood on women's careers," she said. "I think the idea of ​​this part-time work is a way, for example, for women not to completely lose touch, not to drift too far from their professional environment."

This new birth 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.