In Türkiye, draft legislation is being prepared that would extend paid maternity leave for working mothers to 12 months.
First reported in the Daily Sabah, the draft proposal emerged from a meeting of Türkiye’s Population Policies Council, a group created last year aimed at addressing the nation’s declining birth rate and aging population. Since October, the council has been tasked with developing short, medium and long-term strategies to promote population health.
The planned legislation would increase paid maternity leave from its current duration of 16 weeks of leave to a full year, while allowing for up to eighteen months of unpaid leave.
The policy would also provide working mothers with childcare support, placing the country among the top international leaders in family support policies.
Under the government’s existing labour laws, paternity leave grants private sector workers five days of paid leave, while civil servants are granted a maximum of 10 days. The new planned legislation would erase this disparity, equalising paternity benefits across all employment sectors.
The government is yet to announce a timeline for when the draft legislation might be officially introduced or implemented.
A recent impact analysis report published by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) found that the increase in maternity and child allowances is expected to coast up to TL 337 billion (AUD$13.88 billion) in five years.
The changes to maternity and child allowances has been part of the government’s efforts to address demographic challenges and halt the country’s declining birth rate. It comes as other developed countries grappling with declining birth rates and aging populations improve family-friendly policies to support workforce participation among working parents.
Earlier this year, President Erdoğan declared 2025 to be the “Year of the Family”, announcing measures to boost birth rates and promote heteronormative family structures such as interest-free loans for married couples, increased monetary allowances for parents of newborn children; financial support to encourage new families and free or low-cost child care.
Currently, nations in Europe that offer extensive paid parental leave benefits include Sweden (68.6 weeks of shared parental leave), Bulgaria (58.6 weeks), Croatia (58 weeks), Finland and Norway (54 weeks).
In Australia, the government’s Parental Leave Pay offers 22 weeks of payments, which is due to increase to 24 weeks from July 2025 onwards.
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