The global paternity leave report 2026

First, we examined how statutory paternity leave adds up in terms of monetary value around the world. To do this, we calculated the cash value of paternity leave and converted it to British pounds for comparison. We also converted these figures into international dollars, a hypothetical currency that uses local purchasing power to provide a more realistic impression of what a sum is worth locally.

Many countries offer statutory paternity leave on a reduced or decreasing scale of pay. To give a clearer idea of what this actually means for a new parent’s household budget, we calculated the average amount of pay a father in our model situation could claim in each country and the number of weeks at full pay (national average) to which this figure is equivalent.

For example, since July 2026, Australian families have been eligible to share up to 26 weeks of leave on $948.10 per week. Assuming that this leave is shared equally between two partners, our model father would earn AUS$12,325.30. This is equivalent to 9.8 weeks of work at the full national average pay. The country with the highest number of weeks of equivalent full-time pay is South Korea (43.4 weeks). 

There are 51 countries in our study that offer no statutory paid paternity leave at all to a father in our model situation, including the U.S., Serbia and New Zealand. In New Zealand, partners do not get paid leave, although the father could take leave instead of the mother if he were to become the “primary carer.”

Our next chart compares the equivalent number of weeks at full average pay that paid paternity leave is worth around Europe.

Sweden has Western Europe’s best offer in this regard. Swedish parents can share up to 480 days of leave (up to 96 days of which can be saved for use when the child is a bit older), with the first 390 days paid as a proportion of the parent’s wage and the remainder at a flat rate of SEK 180 (£14) per day. For a father on the average Swedish salary, this adds up to SEK 221,603 (£17,518), the equivalent of 23.1 weeks at full pay.

Fathers in the UK may be eligible for two weeks of statutory paternity leave when expecting or adopting a child or having a baby through surrogacy, at a pay rate of £194.32 per week, or 90% of the father’s average weekly earnings (whichever is lower). 

They may also share up to 50 weeks of leave, up to 37 weeks of which are paid, with their partner. The average UK father who takes his two weeks’ leave and shares the rest earns £4,010 on paternity leave, the equivalent of 7.6 weeks of full pay.

Finally, we compiled all our data into this interactive table so you can explore the state of statutory paid paternity leave worldwide.

Switch tabs, use the search function and sort the data to see how much paid paternity leave is worth in pounds sterling, American dollars, and the international dollar (which adjusts figures to account for local purchasing power, giving a truer reflection of a sum’s value). You can also see how many weeks of paid paternity leave for which fathers are eligible in each country, versus the equivalent number of weeks off at full pay when taking into account shared leave and variable rates of pay.

Methodology

We consulted governmental and other reliable sources in the official language of every country in the world to determine the most up-to-date rules and allowances regarding paid statutory paternity leave and parental leave for fathers.

First, due to the different clauses and assumptions reflected in each country’s laws, we defined a model paternity situation: firstborn child, only child, two working parents, no labour complications nor health issues. Parents work in the private sector, and in case of a shared parental leave option, they decide to split it 50/50. If the mother can’t choose the amount of leave to transfer to the father, we don’t consider it shared parental leave. A 5-day working week, unless stated otherwise in paternity laws.

With these parameters defined, we researched each country’s policies to determine the length and total pay for which this model father would be eligible.

To help put figures into context, we also obtained the latest available net national income per capita by country from the World Bank and used it as a proxy for average yearly earnings. We then divided this figure into weekly earnings, and converted it into each country’s local currency unit (LCU). We used Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) to convert the average pay in each country into International Dollars (INTL$), a hypothetical currency which “would buy in the cited country a comparable amount of goods and services a U.S. dollar would buy in the United States.” We also converted the figures to GBP and USD for comparison purposes.

These monthly earnings figures were used to calculate the paternity benefits earned by the ‘hypothetical father’ in each country and the number of full pay weeks to which the paternity benefits are equivalent.

Data is correct as of July 2026