Parental Leave

Maternity Leave
Maternity leave is the amount of time a woman may take off work for the birth of her child. In France, women may take off 16 weeks of work. If she is having her third or more child, she may take off 24 weeks of work. Mothers may begin their maternity leave up to two weeks before the birth of their baby. During her maternity leave, the mother is still paid her full normal salary. Current statistics show that nearly all women take some portion of their maternity leave. Women in upper-level jobs take, on average, a shorter maternity leave.

Paternity Leave
Paternity leave refers to the amount of time a man may take off work for the birth of his child. In France, fathers may take off two weeks of work. During his paternity leave, the father is still paid his full normal salary. Approximately two-thirds of men take paternity leave, much less than the percentage of women who take maternity leave.

Parental Leave
Parental leave is the amount of time a parent, either the father or mother, can take off from work to raise a child. During this time, they are guaranteed that they will still have their job when they return to work. In France, parents can take up to three years off from work to raise a child. During this parental leave, parents do not get paid salaries from their jobs. However, regardless of how much leave a parent takes, the National Family Allowance Fund provides a monthly childcare benefit. The stipend is paid for six months to parents for their first child and for three years for parents with multiple children.

References:
Fagnani, Jeanne and Daniele Boyer. 2010. "France." Pp. 179-185 in International Review of Leave Policies and Related Research 2010. Employment Relations Research Series 115, edited by P. Moss. United Kingdom: Department for Business Innovation & Skills (BIS) (http://www.bis.gov.uk/assets/biscore/employment-matters/docs/I/10-1157-international-review-leave-policies).