If you’ve just welcomed a little one into your life, the Dutch have just introduced a special treat for you. From August 2nd (hey, that’s today), you’re entitled to 9 weeks of paid parental leave. 👩🍼
In total, parents have the right to 26 weeks of unpaid leave after having kids, which can be used until the child is 8 years old.
Now, 9 out of these 26 weeks will be paid, which is an improvement from the previous arrangement. 🤷♀️
The catch(es)
But, it wouldn’t be the Netherlands without some bureaucratic catches and fine print. 🙄
The first catch is: If you want your 9 weeks of paid leave, you have to take them within the first year of your child’s life.
READ MORE | Everything you need to know about maternity leave in the Netherlands in 2022
If you don’t want to, or if you’re not able to, the 9 weeks can still be used later — but they will be unpaid.
This brings us to the second significant catch to the new Dutch parental leave arrangement: you’ll only get 70% of your wage paid during your paid time off.
Now, 70% might be plenty for some — at least if you’re a parent in a double-income household.
Though, for many low/single income households, 9 weeks on 70% income might just not be feasible.
The advantages
On a more positive note, these rules apply to biological and non-biological parents alike, and they apply to parents of children born before August 2nd 2022.
Another positive development is that parents of twins are entitled to twice as much (quick maths tells us that is 18 weeks of paid parental leave). Makes sense if you ask us; double the work = double the need for time off.
READ MORE | Becoming a father? Here’s everything you need to know about paternity leave in the Netherlands in 2022
Although many will say the new system is an improvement on the previous one, the Netherlands is still lagging behind many other European countries when it comes to parental leave benefits.
What do you think of the new system? Should we celebrate the improvement or call for better terms? Tell us in the comments below!
If a private company wants to offer 100% paid parental leave that’s fine and dandy it’s up to the company. However if the government forces companies to pay people parental leave that’s a dictatorship and tyranny.