To guarantee equal treatment of men and women in the professional sphere, it is necessary to act on the distribution of tasks in the private and family sphere. This is the principle which increasingly underlies policies to combat sexist discrimination. That the reconciliation of private life / personal life is no longer the problem of women but of the couple.
Parental leave soon to be reduced, except in the event of sharing
Najat Vallaud Belkacem will therefore present to the Council of Ministers on July 3 his bill for equality between men and women with this flagship measure: part of the parental leave can only be taken if the father makes use of his right. From the second child, parental leave will only be two and a half years for the first parent (in 96% of cases today, the mother) but may be extended by six months if the father assumes his share. The government intends to reproduce the principle in force in Sweden and Norway but also in Germany. “We expect from this reform a result equivalent to that allowed by the system successfully implemented in Germany on the occasion of the creation of the Elterngeld in 2077 (two months reserved for the father out of 12): three years after this reform , the proportion of fathers taking parental leave has multiplied by seven (from 3 to 21%). ”
Money, the sinews of war
Except that… Under the Elternberg, German fathers receive 67% of their salary (with a ceiling of 1800 euros). In Norway, parents on parental leave receive 100% of their salary first and then 80%. In Sweden, compensation corresponds to 80% of the salary. As a reminder, compensation for French parental leave is not proportional to income and amounts to 388 euros, or 35% of the minimum wage.
It turns out that the announcement of this measure aimed at greater parity in taking parental leave followed that of a reduction in parental leave compensation for the better-off. Families who cannot claim the basic PAJE allowance (184 euros per month) now receive a free choice of activity supplement increased by this sum, i.e. 388 + 184 = 572 euros. From April 1, 2014, this increase ends, the compensation for the leave will be, for everyone, 388 euros. Is it with 388 euros that we really intend to encourage fathers to take parental leave? Especially since men are still the main sources of income today (yes, it’s incredible, but in two-worker couples, only 11% of women earn as much as their spouse).
The intention is certainly good, but the method is puzzling. And since everything fits together, there is a risk of a double kiss cool effect. If the fathers, little motivated by the 388 euros in financial compensation, do not take their six months of parental leave en masse, how are we going to keep these thousands of children who will not yet have the age of enter school and who will in turn enter the childcare “market”? Finding a way to welcome a 3 month old baby is not easy. Finding one for a two-and-a-half-year-old is even more Kafkaesque. The bill does contain an article specifying that the priority reception procedure in a crèche will be extended to mothers in CLCAs in professional integration. Here too, it will be objected that mothers on parental leave are not in professional integration. After their leave, they are supposed to return to their jobs, as a note published by the Cnaf in February 2012 noted: “In terms of professional integration, parental leave protects mothers who cease their professional activity.” These mothers, on the other hand, risk being confronted with a real concern for childcare, unless their spouse agrees to take over, but at 388 euros per month, nothing is less certain. The snake that bites its tail.