In normal times, and in times of crisis, women are the first to make changes to their professional lives and careers in order to take care of their children. Data released by the Ministry of Social Security on Wednesday, in response to a parliamentary question from MPs François Benoy and Charles Margue (déi Gréng), showed that more women requested leave for family reasons in March than men.
In May, the Employers' Mutual Fund reimbursed sums relating to leave for family reasons taken in March 2020, when the health crisis began. It reimbursed a total of 46.7 million euros for 40,338 employees, 23,464 of whom were women, compared to 16,874 men. It also reimbursed 1,409 freelancers or farmers, including 699 women and 710 men.
For employees, women represented slightly more than 58% of the beneficiaries of leave for family reasons, used for childcare. It harks back to a recent Statec study which estimated that 72% of women had to put their careers on hold in favour of childcare by at least a month.
Data for April and May is currently unavailable, but May's figures are estimated to reach around 26,000 employees.
Minister Romain Schneider said he anticipated the number of employees concerned is likely to evolve over the coming months, as many employers had to conduct related administrative procedures for the first time, and a good number of HR services were overwhelmed by the vast numbers of employees concerned.
