Albanian men among the most mistreated for parental permission

In Albania women who are mothers obtain parental permission for 52 weeks, even if not paid by 100% of their salary. The duration of parental permission for women in Albania is among the longest in the world and Europe. However, it is not the same with the permission of parents in men, where parenting is three days of full payment. Compared to EU countries, it ranks among the short-term countries of parental permission, after Slovakia, Malta and Luxembourg.

An article by the European Network of Data Journalies on Parenting Rights and Child Care concluded that many fathers delegate their caring activity to wives who remain out of the job market. This is an ungenerous situation of rights and tasks, and therefore parental permission is changing in many European Union countries.

The fatherhood permit, how does it work in Europe?

For this reason, the European Commission in 2017 presented a proposal for a balance between professional and family life for parents and care providers, which suggests member states, among other things, to adopt a minimum of 10 days of mandatory tax.

Currently, almost all EU countries guarantee that right, with an average length of 11 days. Slovenia stands for 30 days to 90% of the salary, Romania with 15 to 100% (on condition that the father takes a child care course) and Bulgaria with 15 days to 90%. Balkan countries are far from European standards: firing the fathership is almost less than 7 days, and in some cases it is not even paid. On the other hand, Italy also does not respect EU guidelines, with only 5 days off for young fathers.

However, according to a study by Eurofound in 23 of 28 EU countries, only 10% of parents decide to get permission to leave their child's work on the occasion of birth, with a spectrum ranging from 0.02% in Greece to 44% of Sweden.

The fact that affects men's decision making is some, besides cultural.

First, the economic factor: the low level of compensation affects obtaining or not obtaining fatherhood.

Birth Permissions for Mothers

In the countries of the Western Balkans, Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina stand out for the length of maternity leave (52 weeks), but the profit is only 60.5% of the salary, written in the article. The situation is different in Bulgaria, where permission lasts 58 weeks but is paid 90%. To encourage the reintegration of new mothers on the labour market, the Bulgarian government in 2017 approved a move guaranteeing 50% of the benefits they receive to stay home within the first year of the child (Monitor).