Six EU member states amended their legislation between July 2024 and March 2025 to encourage more parents, especially fathers, to take parental leave. To this end, Cyprus, Ireland and Italy have extended the length of time for which compensation is paid, almost five years after the European directive on work-life balance came into force. The aim is to encourage a better distribution of family tasks and thereby increase the employment rate at a time of skills shortages.
By introducing parental leave of at least four months for each parent, two of which cannot be transferred from one to the other, the European directive on work-life balance for parents and carers has led to progress in several member states. This is the case, for example, in Hungary, where parental leave has finally been introduced. Nonetheless, some countries still fall short of the minimum two months reserved exclusively for each parent. This is particularly true of Spain, Estonia and Hungary
…You are reading this article thanks to your subscription to Mind Retail.
Explore new horizons by checking out our other verticals:
Do you have information to share with us?
Article authors
Nathalie Tran
Editor-in-Chief Mind HR