Paid family leave promotes the distribution of care responsibility

The family leave reform, which the Professionals of Business and Technology had promoted for more than ten years, entered into force in August 2022. The family leave after the pregnancy leave is divided equally, and only just over a third of one’s own share can be given to the other parent. The law guarantees the right to family leave – without pay.

Before the family leave reform, it was typically stated in the collective agreements that the parent not giving birth would receive five days of paid leave and the parent giving birth would receive approximately three months of paid leave. Thanks to us, most collective agreements now include an entry on the pay for the family leave. Both parents may take 32 days of paid family leave, and the parent giving birth may also take 40 days of paid pregnancy leave.

The legislation on family leave benefits both women and men in working life. Fathers get to witness their children’s first steps and take care of them. At the same time, the position of young women in working life improves.

Fathers are keen to take longer parental leave. According to Kela, the fathers of children born in late 2022 took an average of 78 parental allowance days. The fathers of children born in 2021 took an average of 44 parental allowance days, and the fathers of children born in 2020 took an average of 41 parental allowance days.

The direction is clear: the care responsibility is distributed more and more evenly!