After a birth, one man in nine reduces or stops work temporarily, against one woman in two

In France, more than one in two mothers with children under the age of eight stopped working after the birth of her children or reduced her working hours temporarily, meaning for at least one month more than her maternity leave entitlement. Only 12% of fathers modified their working hours after the end of their paternity leave. Among women, these modifications in working time are mainly made within the framework of parental leave. Those with fewer qualifications stop working more often while those with a level of two years of higher education tend to reduce their working hours. In four cases out of five, the decision to take full-time parental leave was made before the birth. Nine in ten mothers who took full parental leave consider that it was the best solution for the child, three in ten say that another form of childminding would have been too expensive and three in ten that they needed to recover from the birth. In France, a smaller proportion of women stop working after a birth than in Sweden, Germany or the UK. These differences can be partly explained by differences in legislation on parental leave between countries and by their particular range of childminding possibilities on offer.