Exploring Maternity Leave Policies in European Union Countries: A Legislative Review

Background The European Union promotes gender equality, and it has implemented comprehensive policies to support families and promote work-life balance, including maternity leave regulations. This paper aimed to provide a review of maternity leave regulations in the European Union. Methods A review of the legislative framework was carried out for each of the 27 EU member states by researching the online institutional repositories. Population size, gross domestic product, gross domestic product per capita, unemployment rate, and the average number of children in each family were the factors taken under consideration. Results The EU has set a minimum standard of 14 weeks of fully paid maternity leave. However, several EU countries offer over 30 weeks of paid maternity leave, as well as additional parental leave, paid paternity leave, and flexible work arrangements to support families. The country with the longest maternity leave is Sweden, whose laws grant a considerable number of days (up to 480 in between the two parents). This might be a crucial factor of the welfare system that sees the highest EU average in children per household percentage. Conclusion While progress has been made in Europe with regard to family policies and maternity leave, there is still room for a better promotion of workplace gender equality.