Govt plans family leave reform to improve wellbeing, gender equality

A planned reform to parental allowances has created a model for further preparation. The model guarantees the child a place at the centre of family benefits and promotes wellbeing and gender equality, said Social Affairs and Health Minister Aino-KaisaPekonen.

“The family leave reform is the government’s investment in the future of children and the wellbeing of families. The reform will be a major change in attitudes, as it will improve equality between parents and make the lives of diverse families easier. The reform will support all kinds of families and ensure equal leaves for children regardless of the form of the family. Sharing parenting responsibilities in everyday life will become easier, and the relationship between the parents and the child will be strengthened from early childhood. The livelihood of families with small children will also improve,” said Pekonen, according to an official press release.

As a result of the reform, the total amount of families’ daily allowance days would increase from the current 11.5 months to more than 14 months. Both parents would receive an equal quota of 164 daily allowance days, i.e., approximately 6.6 months. Either of the parents could transfer 69 days from his/her own quota to the other parent.

A pregnant parent would have a separate daily allowance period of approximately one month before the parental allowance period starts. This allowance has been initially called pregnancy allowance.

A single parent would have access to the daily allowance quotas for both parents.

Increasing the number of daily allowance days would increase the costs of the daily allowance scheme by an estimated EUR 100 million. The assessment will be specified when the details of the model will be refined in further preparation.

A working group led by public officials is now drafting the reform. The reform will enter into force in autumn 2021 at the earliest.