Despite the fact that parental leave has lost some popularity in favour of teleworking since Covid-19, a record number of fathers are taking half a day a week (called 1/10th) of leave for childcare, new research by HR firm Acerta shows.
In 2023, an average of 6.3% of employees took some form of career break as the steep rise of teleworking allows Belgians to better reconcile work and private life. Still, one parental leave formula in particular has systematically been gaining popularity in recent years, figures show.
"The link between hybrid working and the reduced popularity of career breaks has been made before: working from home reduces the need," legal expert at Acerta Consult, Annelies Bries, said in a press release. "At the same time, part-time parental leave is gaining in popularity, especially during the summer holidays and for parents of young children."
Within the category of part-time parental leave, the 1/10 formula is particularly popular. It has been available since 2019 and allows parents to stay home for the children half a day a week or one full day every two weeks.
Small impact on income
Since this year, the 1/10th formula has accounted for 22% of all part-time parental leave and is particularly popular among fathers: over a quarter (27%) of men who take part-time parental leave opt for the scheme. For women, the figure is 19%.
"The idea was that fathers would be more easily reached with a 1/10 formula of parental leave, as the scheme only has a small impact on the working week and income," Bries said. "The figures now show that this turned out to be true."
Still, it is mainly mothers who interrupt their careers through various forms of parental leave to facilitate the combination of work and children. "So there is still work to do to achieve a balance on this front."
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In Belgium, those who combine their career with caring for their children can take up to four months of parental leave, and can structure it in several ways: they can take it all at once, half-time, in 1/5th (taking one day a week off work) or 1/10th (half a day a week, or a full day every two weeks).
Figures show that people most often opt for the 1/5th formula in Belgium, meaning that they work four days a week, and have the fifth day to focus on their children and household.
Acerta collected the data from over 320,000 employees working for more than 23,000 private sector employers, which includes both SMEs and large enterprises.
