Nearly half of mothers would struggle financially under parental leave pay cuts

Nearly half of working mothers would face financial hardship if they took additional parental leave, according to a Dutch labor union study, as political debate intensifies over planned reductions to benefits tied to pregnancy and caregiving leave. The findings come from a representative survey conducted by Panelwizard for the CNV labor union among 1,000 respondents.

Under current rules, mothers receive 70 percent of the maximum daily wage for nine weeks during parental leave. The government’s proposed changes would reduce that benchmark by 20 percent, meaning that parents would effectively receive either 60 or 50 percent of their original salary during leave, according to CNV.

CNV reported that 48 percent of women surveyed said they are already unable to make ends meet on the current leave payment. The study also found that 30 percent of partners are unable to afford additional birth or parental leave, even though they currently receive 70 percent of the daily wage during those periods. More than one quarter of parents do not fully use their parental leave entitlement, according to the findings.

CNV defines additional parental leave as a system that allows parents to take up to 26 weeks off after childbirth, of which 9 weeks are partially paid and the remaining 17 weeks are unpaid. The leave is intended to allow parents, particularly mothers, to extend time at home following maternity and childbirth leave.

Political scrutiny of the policy has grown since March, when D66 parliamentary leader Jan Paternotte said the reductions in pregnancy-related benefits should be reconsidered. He argued that, under the coalition agreement, the maximum daily wage used for unemployment benefits and disability insurance would be reduced by one-fifth but said it was not clear to negotiating parties at the time that this cut would also affect leave arrangements connected to pregnancy.