Maternity leave increases

THE INSS social security institute has registered 140,455 periods of maternity leave over the first six months of this year, 0.44 per cent more than the same period in 2014.
The Ministry of Employment and Social Security reported that the amount spent on maternity leave over the six months rose 0.6 per cent to €766.7 million and that most parental leave (137,837) was taken by mothers.
Maternity leave payments amount to 100 per cent of the worker’s salary and is paid directly by the INSS for 16 weeks, and can be taken entirely by the mother or by the father after the first six weeks.
By region, the most maternity leave was registered between January and June in Andalucia (24,783), Cataluña (24,553), Madrid (24,472) and Valencia (13,678).
Yet the regions where the amount of leave taken increased the most were Galicia (4.06 per cent) and Madrid (3.41 per cent) while they decreased the most in La Rioja (5.32 per cent), Navarra (4.57 per cent) and Murcia (3.15 per cent).
Meanwhile paternity leave was taken by 119,409 new fathers over the six month period, a 2.45 per cent increased compared to the first half of 2014, costing a total of €99.7 million.
Paternity leave lasts 15 days and is separate from maternity leave. The regions with the most fathers taking paternity leave were Cataluña (22,306), Madrid (20,138), Andalucia (10,095), Valencia (11,826) and Basque Country (6,783).