Parental leave in Belgium on the up
An increasing number of people in jobs are taking up parental leave, De Tijd reports citing figures supplied by the federal employment service RVA. The so-called "one tenth formula" is particularly popular.
Last March, over 84,000 employees had taken up parental leave to take care of their child(ren). The figure has been on the rise for years coming from about 53,000 in 2013. In 2020 it peaked to over 90,000 due to corona, but after filtering out corona the figure would have been 68,000 De Tijd calculated.
Over half of the employees choose to work 80 percent. Fathers are taking more days off as well. They often choose half a day per week (or one day each two weeks), says Annelies Bries of HR providers Acerta. "It's traditionally women taking parental leave, but men are often choosing the option of one 10th now. This has less impact on the wage and on their career."
The 'one tenth option' is growing faster than any other.