Maternity leave is an employee benefit that a working woman and her spouse or partner enjoys in the third trimester of a woman's pregnancy and after childbirth, and many companies that provide maternity leave to mothers provide the same maternity leave to the father, often referred to as paternity leave. Around the world, the number of weeks of maternity leave and the percentage of wages vary from country to country.
Countries with full-pay maternity leave
Some countries provide full pay for the weeks in which mothers take maternity leave. These countries are: Chile, Costa Rica, Croatia, Estonia, Germany, Israel, Austria, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain. In addition to paying full pay, the number of weeks of maternity leave required in these countries ranges from 6 weeks in Portugal to 30 weeks in Croatia. Other countries also have a very high proportion of salaries during maternity leave: 94% in Norway, 90% in France and 90% in Bulgaria.
How countries "rolled" each other to death on paid maternity leave:
Bulgaria (58.6 weeks)/90%
Greece (43 weeks)/49%
UK (39 weeks) / 30%
Slovakia (34 weeks) / 75%
Croatia (30 weeks) / full salary
Chile (30 weeks) / full salary
Czech Republic (28 weeks)/61%
Ireland (26 weeks)/26%
Hungary (24 weeks) / 70%
Italy (21.7 weeks) 80%
Poland (20 weeks) / full pay
Luxembourg (20 weeks) / full pay
Estonia (20 weeks) / full pay
These are the minimum number of weeks required for maternity leave, and many countries allow parents the option of extending their leave. In Estonia, mothers can take 20 weeks of maternity leave with full pay before applying for a maximum of 62 weeks of paid parental leave. In several countries, such as Chile, mothers must take leave; for example, in Chile, mothers must take leave 6 weeks before giving birth and 12 weeks after childbirth! In Austria, mothers are obliged to take leave for 8 weeks before and 8 weeks after birth.