Basque parents can enjoy 16 weeks of paternity leave before the rest of Spain. The Basque Government has announced that it will expand by decree paternity leave for 16 weeks to all parents from autumn.
A few months ago we announced in Babies and more that the measure would be effective for parents who already had a child, and for the first-time would be from 2021, but now they have said that it will be extended to all parents, also first timers.
The first community to equate paternity and maternity leave
Yesterday came into effect the Royal Decree that establishes the extension of the paternity leave of eight weeks in Spain, which has led the Government of Euskadi to improve its initial proposal seeing the savings that this measure will imply for the Basque coffers. He decided to also grant this permission to parents who have a child for the first time.
In Babies and more Paternity leave: as of April 1, parents are eight weeks offThis makes it the first autonomous community that will equate the permission of fathers and mothers, also including single parent families.
The system that will be used will be the voluntary leave that will be financed by the Basque Government. So, in this 2019 social security will pay the first eight weeks and in Euskadi whoever wishes may take another eight weeks of leave, whose payment will be paid by the Basque Treasury.
In 2020, the parents of the rest of Spain can enjoy 12 weeks of leave, according to the expansion project announced by the central government, while the Basque parents will have 16 weeks. Euskadi will finance the extra four weeks.
In 2021 both Basque parents and those of the rest of Spain can enjoy the 16 weeks of paternity leave, and the central government will assume the payment of complete casualties.
The father must enjoy the permission in the first 12 months of the child's life, and not at the same time as the mother, since the idea is to foster co-responsibility in the care of the children, in addition to the child being able to be cared for at home by one of his parents for longer.
In Babies and more Paternity and maternity permits in Spain: this has evolved over the years
