National family policies

Explore how different countries support new parents through income replacement, job protection, and other policies.

Use the site to look up family policy entitlements in a country for comparison across nations. All data is either directly linked to its original policy source or presented as a clear, easy-to-follow calculation so you can always see where it comes from. Interactive charts present this data in normalised formats for straightforward comparison.

Compare

Countries

Overview

Entitlements for the birth parent

	Country	Paid maternity leave	Paid parental leave	Consecutive protected leave available for birth	Weekly net wage (EUR)	Income replacement during paid period
1.	Germany	14 weeks^ⓘ	44 weeks^ⓘ	162.5 weeks	€547.38	€23,559.13^ⓘ
2.	Netherlands	16 weeks^ⓘ	9 weeks^ⓘ	42 weeks	€772.21	€17,220.20^ⓘ
3.	UK	39 weeks^ⓘ	0 weeks^ⓘ	56 weeks	€716.66	€10,492.26^ⓘ
4.	USA	0 weeks^ⓘ	0 weeks^ⓘ	12 weeks	€914.89	€0.00^ⓘ

For a more detailed comparison, see Compare. To explore entitlements by country, visit Countries.

Income replacement is calculated based on Average wages.

Shareable entitlements are always attributed to the birth parent.

Entitlements for the non-birth parent

	Country	Paid paternity leave	Paid parental leave	Consecutive protected leave available for birth	Weekly net wage (EUR)	Income replacement during paid period
1.	Germany	0 weeks^ⓘ	8.7 weeks^ⓘ	156.5 weeks	€661.88	€3,600.00^ⓘ
2.	Netherlands	6 weeks^ⓘ	9 weeks^ⓘ	32 weeks	€858.96	€9,019.10^ⓘ
3.	UK	2 weeks^ⓘ	0 weeks^ⓘ	6 weeks	€854.18	€347.41^ⓘ
4.	USA	0 weeks^ⓘ	0 weeks^ⓘ	12 weeks	€1,135.10	€0.00^ⓘ

For a more detailed comparison, see Compare. To explore entitlements by country, visit Countries.

Income replacement is calculated based on Average wages.

Shareable entitlements are always attributed to the birth parent.

Methodology

Terminology

This site uses inclusive terminology to reflect the diversity of family structures and parenting roles:

Birth parents are individuals who give birth and are eligible for maternity policies and pay.
Non-birth parents are the primary additional parents (regardless of gender or biological relationship) and are eligible for paternity or equivalent parental leave policies and pay.

While this terminology aims to be inclusive, it’s important to note that legal recognition and support for same-sex couples, non-biological parents, and diverse family structures vary significantly by country. Some jurisdictions may not yet fully reflect these inclusive principles in their policies.

Gender wage gap is the difference between the median earnings of men and of women relative to the median earnings of men. SourceThe earnings of both birth parents and non-birth parents are adjusted relative to average wages, using a factor that accounts for the gender wage gap. This adjustment reflects the disparity in median earnings between genders, as detailed in Average wages.

While countries most commonly report gross (pre-tax) average wages, support policies are often defined in net (post-tax) terms. To standardize the comparison, average wages are adjusted by applying the income tax rate and social security contributions that a person earning the average wage would typically pay, excluding any additional benefits. This is referred to as tax rate in Average wages.

Protected leave refers to a period of leave in which there are employment protections, without necessarily being paid.

Assumptions and caveats

This comparison focuses on national policies and does not fully capture subnational variations (e.g., differences across U.S. states, German Länder, or UK devolved administrations).

Prospective parents are assumed to be employed full-time (35+ hours per week) with a standard employer. Variations in employment status, such as part-time work, self-employment, or non-standard contracts, are not addressed.

While statutory minimums are considered, private employers may offer additional benefits beyond legal requirements.

Calculations are based on average wages. While median wages would be more representative, they are not used due to limited data availability.

Other factors, such as availability and cost of childcare are not yet included.

Data sources

Individual national policies are researched from official government websites, such as familienportal.de, uwv.nl, gov.uk, and dol.gov. This is then cross-referenced with data from OECD Family Database and eurostat.

Currency

All monetary values are converted to EUR for comparison purposes. These rates are approximate and may vary over time. Currencies are up to date as of 2026-02-02. Exchange rates are:

Currency	Exchange rate (to EUR)
GBP	1.16
USD	0.85