Parents in Spain will now be entitled to 17 weeks of paid parental leave, after the government approved a new measure to help boost family support and gender equality.
The new rules will permit each parent to a non-transferable paid leave of 17 weeks during their child’s first year, with the added provision that they must take the first six right after birth of the child or an adoption.
Parents will also be entitled to an additional two weeks of paid leave which can be taken any time before the child turns eight, bringing to total number of paid leave to 19 weeks.
Single-parent households will be permitted to a total of 32 weeks of paid leave. According to government data, roughly 80 percent of single-parent households in Spain are headed by women.
The leftist government said the new reforms seek to ensure that employment is “not a barrier when deciding to start a family” and an attempt at encouraging men and women to share parenting duties equally.
After the cabinet approved the measure, Labour Minister Yolanda Diaz said the country is “moving toward feminism and equality” and that “there will be no turning back”.
The government added that it has plans to increase paid parental leave to twenty weeks per parent by the end of the legislative term in 2027.
The latest new measures brings Spain into compliance with an EU directive on parental leave. It also now joins Finland as the only EU countries to offer equal paid parental leave to both parents.
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