Questions and answers about the new parental leave law in Spain

The Spanish parliament has passed a new law that improves parental leave for birth or adoption and childcare. Parental leave will be increased from 16 to 17 weeks and birth and care leave for single-parent families from 26 to 32 weeks. In addition, Social Security will pay two additional weeks to the eight weeks of parental leave for childcare until the child reaches the age of eight.

In total, three new weeks will be paid, which means that beneficiaries will receive their full salary during this time at a cost to the public coffers of 1,500 million this year alone, according to the second vice-president, Yolanda Díaz. Employees, civil servants and self-employed people will all benefit from the improvements.

These are the new features of the text approved on Tuesday 9 September:

How many weeks will birth, adoption or fostering leave be?

This leave will increase from 16 to 17 weeks paid at 100 per cent of the salary for both parents until the child is one year old. The law maintains that both parents must take the first six weeks after childbirth on a mandatory uninterrupted, full-time basis. The mother can start this period up to four weeks before the due date.

The remaining weeks of this leave (10 weeks until now, which will become 11 weeks) can be taken in weekly periods, accumulated or separately, in the first 12 months following the birth or the judicial or administrative decision in the case of adoption.

How do the changes affect single-parent families?

Single-parents' leave for childbirth and childcare is also increased. Leave for birth or adoption in single-parent families, 80 per cent of which are made up of women alone with their children, is extended from 26 to 32 weeks, with 100 per cent of the parents' salary. Four of these will be available until the child is eight years old.

What is the status of childcare leave for children under eight years old?

Social Security will pay two additional weeks to the current eight weeks of parental leave to care for children up to the age of eight. Until now, parental leave was configured as a suspension of employment, which meant that absences on these days were deducted from the salary. Unlike the 17th week of parental leave, which must be taken in the first year of the child's life or adoption, parental leave for children under the age of eight can be taken flexibly by parents.

When will the new law come into force?

The extension of parental leave will affect the parents of children born after 30 July this year, when the Royal Decree that modifies these benefits came into force. Meanwhile, the payment of the two weeks leave for the care of children up to eight years of age will be applied retroactively from 2 August 2024. This is in order to comply with the European Directive on work-life balance, which required Spain to pay part of this leave from the aforementioned date. It will be possible to apply for from 1 January 2026. 

Do these permits pay the tax authorities?

The Social Security covers the total cost of the childbirth and childcare leave and will pay 100 per cent of the regulatory base and the benefit will be exempt from income tax, so the amount to be paid will be the gross salary of the payroll, without tax.

What will be the maximum amount of time that parents can accumulate paid leave?

The number of paid weeks that may be accumulated is 22, taking into account the 19 weeks for childbirth and care, plus the three additional weeks for breastfeeding.