This is evident from the evaluation of the Extra Birth Leave Act (WIEG), which came into effect in 2019 and was expanded as of 2020. Since then, fathers or partners in employment have been allowed to add another five weeks after a week of paid birth leave. Those five weeks of extra leave are partly reimbursed by the UWV.
‘Spending more time with child’
The evaluation shows that fathers and partners who use the additional birth leave mainly do so to spend more time with their newborn child. Minister Karien van Gennip (Social Affairs and Employment) has sent this to the House of Representatives.
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Of the 26 percent who did not take additional leave, nearly half said they did not need it. They started working less or stopped working altogether. A large part of that 26 percent had wanted to use it themselves, but indicated that they could not afford it financially.
‘Culture change’
The WIEG will not be changed after this evaluation, writes Van Gennip. The evaluation does not justify this. It is also about a ‘cultural change, which takes some time’.
In addition, the corona measures have ‘almost certainly’ had an influence on the use and effects of additional birth leave, says the minister. “Measures such as working from home changed the distribution of (extra) care tasks.”
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The uncertainty about the economic situation or the loss of income as a result of the corona crisis may also have influenced the use of the extra birth leave, according to the evaluation.
It is too early to draw conclusions about the intended effects of the WIEG, Van Gennip writes, such as making a positive contribution to the bond between the child and the partner. The law also aims to increase women’s opportunities on the labor market.
poorer families
Trade union FNV is critical. Partners with lower incomes made less use of the scheme than those with higher incomes. Because you have to miss 30 percent of your income during that period, the scheme is less accessible to poorer households, according to the FNV. The union wants the government to continue to pay the salary in full during the additional birth leave.
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