New birth leave: duration, remuneration, conditions… what awaits future parents

Le président de la République a annoncé la création du congé de naissance, mardi 16 janvier 2024 (photo d'illustration). Omar Lopez – UNSPLASH

Emmanuel Macron a confirmé la création du congé de naissance, mardi 16 janvier 2024 lors de son allocution télévisée. Il devrait remplacer le congé parental actuel. Le point sur ce que l'on sait de ce nouveau dispositif.

The President of the Republic announced the creation of birth leave on Tuesday January 16, 2024, during a post-reshuffle press conference broadcast live on television.

This leave would replace parental leave. Parental leave allowed both parents, at the end of maternity or paternity leave, to suspend their professional activity until the child was three years old if the parents shared the leave. His remuneration is 429 euros per month. 

What amount ?

The new leave, called "birth leave", can be taken by both the father and the mother. No amount has yet been revealed but Aurore Bergé affirmed that the amount would go "well beyond 429 euros" current, includes in particular the Huffington Post.

According to information from TF1, the new remuneration should be based on the parent's salary. It could be 50% of his salary, with a ceiling of around 2,000 euros but nothing has yet been officially decided.

It's within the framework of a "demographic rearmament", according to the words of the President, and the fight against the decline in the birth rate that the Head of State intends to put in place birth leave of this nature. The French are having fewer and fewer children, a trend that is accelerating. In 2014, the drop in births was 1.6% on average, before increasing to 2.2% in 2022 and up to 6.6% in 2023, note Vie Publique .

How long ?

Birth leave will be shorter than parental leave. Its duration should be 4 months for the mother and 4 months for the father. This duration will be cumulative with maternity (16 weeks) and paternity (28 days) leave. The two parents will not have to divide the 4 months, each will have the possibility of taking them at the same time or one after the other, details TF1.

From when ?

The President of the Republic has given no indication of a date for the implementation of this leave.