Parental leave is on the rise in Belgium, especially among fathers, according to data published on Friday by the National Employment Office (ONEM).
In March, the number of parental leave breaks amounted to 91.079, an increase of 8.1% compared to the corresponding month of last year.
Parents are entitled to four months of parental leave for each child under the age of 12. During that time they receive a replacement income paid by ONEM. During the pandemic, this scheme was increasingly successful throughout the country.
In March 2023, the number of parental leave breaks jumped by more than 38% compared to March 2019.
More and more men have been applying. The number of parental holidays granted to men rose by 12.1% in March 2023 on a year-on-year basis. This was twice the increase for women (+6%). In absolute terms, however, more women (58,876) took parental leave than men (32,203).
Traditionally, women have opted more often for time credit, thematic leave (including parental leave) and career breaks, ONEM notes. Of the 240,263 leave allowances granted in March, 148,439 were awarded to women and 91,824 to men.
Overall, men are gradually making up for their lag in leave allowances in general, which increased by +6.3% for men, while they went down by -0.1% for women.
In March, men took +6.8% more time credit while women took -3.8% less.
