The 2021 Finance Bill has approved doubling the paternity leave for French fathers from 14 days to a total of 28.
President Emmanuel Macron officially announced the new provision on September 23, while visiting a medical center specialized in the care of mothers and children (“Protection Maternelle et Infantile or PMI”), in the Southern suburbs of Paris Longjumeau, in the department of Essonne.
This follows the recently published report: “The Child’s First 1000 Days”, written by an expert committee and chaired by neuropsychiatrist Boris Cyrulnik.
Dr. Cyrulnik explains: “When the parents take care of their baby, illiteracy practically disappears, there is a surprising decrease in psychopathy, and adolescent suicide rates dropped by 40% in Northern European countries which previously had the highest suicide rates. Therefore, this [parental care] gives an excellent return on investment. The money we spend during [the child’s] first 1000 days, is money that will not be spent on law enforcement; money that will not be spent on educators and psychologists.”
This text to reform paternity leave is specifically based on providing equal opportunities for all children. It is in contradiciton with the pending bioethics legislation of ART with a donor for women without a male partner, which considers paternity as a mere option.
