Benefits of maternity/parental leave in the EU27: literature review

Maternity/Parental leave and the relevant benefits constitute important means through which welfare states provide support to families to contribute to social reproduction, to guarantee a good start in life for children, to protect children’s and mothers’ wellbeing and more recently to address current demographic and economic problems and help families achieve work/family balance, a declared EU priority. This note presents the important benefits and the crucial role maternity/parental leave plays on the societal and family level in the context of the EU-27.