Géraldine Hassler, who works in human resources at KPMG Luxembourg called it a "small revolution": "About 13% of our male employees either were or are on parental leave. Not too long ago, maybe five years ago, parental leave basically only ever concerned female employees. Now, the stigma is fading."
According to Hasseler, the reason behind the change is rather clear: "A lot was achieved through the new parental leave reform. It told men that yes, it is possible! Men are no longer told that they aren't masculine enough if they go on parental leave."
The Ministry for Family affairs has confirmed the positive tendency. The parental leave reform came into force in December 2016. Only one year later, minister Corinne Cahen already noticed the effects: 10,881 requests were sent in in 2017. Only 6,759 requests were made in 2016, before the reform.
From 2016 to 2017, parental leave requests went up by 20% for mothers. Meanwhile, requests by fathers metaphorically exploded: They went up by 190%!
Last year marked another step towards gender equality between men and women. In a response to a parliamentary question, minister Cahen proudly pointed out the most recent numbers available to the Children's Future Fund (Caisse pour l'avenir des enfants, CAE).
In 2018, 7,109 mothers requested to go on parental leave and the dads are quickly catching up: In 2018, they accounted for 6,002 requests. The gender gap is quickly closing and almost as many dads now get to spend time looking after their kids as mothers.
It is also interesting to look at the sectors with the highest percentage rates of parental leave. For men, the public sector is the most accommodating with 11.6%. The finance and insurance sector comes in second place at 11.5% while the construction sector is in third place with 11.2%.
For women, health and social workers account for the highest percentage of women going on parental leave (18.3%). In second place, as for the men, is the finance and insurance sector (13.8%), followed by the public sector (13.5%).
With the parental leave reform that came into action in December 2016, parents can request full-time parental leave lasting between 4 and 6 months per child. Here are some example, but more can be found on the government website.
You work 40 hours per week. You can chose between the following:
Full-time parental leave lasting between 4 and 6 months
Part-time parental leave lasting between 8 and 12 months
Split parental leave: 1 day per week over lasting a maximum of 20 months
You work 20 hours per week. You can chose between the following:
Full-time parental leave lasting between 4 and 6 months
Part-time parental leave lasting between 8 and 12 months
You work 10 hours or more per week:
Full-time parental leave lasting between 4 and 6 months
