Increasing Parental Leave in Belgium?
Maternity Leave in Belgium is currently 15 weeks - barely enough time to adjust to parenthood, recover from the birth, establish breastfeeding.
Petition to the Belgian Parliament to get it increased.
With only 15 weeks paid maternity leave Belgium lags way behind other European countries. You are only beginning to surface from the immediate postnatal exhaustion and life adjustment and it is time to take your baby to childcare and head back to work. For comparison Sweden offers 16 months of parental leave with 80% paid salary and can be divided between both parents!
The first 1,000 days of a child’s life are crucial for their development, yet too many parents in Belgium struggle to balance work and family with insufficient parental leave. There is currently a petition open that calls on the Belgian parliament to extend parental leave to 8 months per parent, with fairer compensation, giving families the time and security they need.
Increasing parental leave has a positive impact on everyone. A longer leave means less pressure on daycare centers, better work-life balance, stronger support for breastfeeding, and improved health for both parents and children. In fact:
- Breastfeeding rates increase by an average of 50% when the baby stays home for at least 6 months
- Extending parental leave to 12 months reduces maternal absenteeism by 30%.
- Childcare costs drop by 20% in countries where parents stay home longer
So, please consider signing the petition. It only needs a few thousand more signatures for this proposal to reach parliament.
Let’s make a difference together!
A petition is a proposal that you can submit to the House of Representatives, regardless of your age, nationality, language or place of residence.
