This Wednesday, 23 September, the government announced the extension of paternity leave. The CJD welcomes this symbol of gender equality but suggests we can go further with the introduction of more inclusive parental leave.
Convinced of the benefits of paternity leave reform, the CJD enthusiastically welcomed the symbolism of this announcement. Maternity leave and paternity leave must be completely overhauled. Sharing the mental burden of mothers and a better distribution of parental work are essential elements for socio-professional equality between women and men. The CJD also points out that this subject must take precedence to really work against professional inequalities between women and men (barriers to hiring, career breaks).
The CJD hopes that the parliamentary debates at the start of 2021 will make it possible to move towards a more systemic and ambitious reform.
Three key measures seem essential to us in order to take it that one step further.
- The creation of a parental leave account that can be shared between the mother and the father, which would complement existing maternity and paternity leave. The CJD proposes to rely on the recommendations of Boris Cyrulnik (9 months shareable and remunerated at 75% of the salary).
- The opening up of parental leave to homoparental families.
- Compensation for parents who halve their working hours in the year following the birth of the child.
The CJD is ready to experiment with these measures in companies to achieve real equality.