Global maternity leave report

Why the early days after birth are critical for mother and child

Maternity leave and pay are designed to improve the health and well-being of mothers and their children.

The UK government emphasises the importance of the first “1,001 critical days” of a child’s life. During this period, babies are “uniquely susceptible to their environment” as their physical, intellectual and emotional development advances at an astonishing rate. This is why eye contact, conversation and the avoidance of screen time are so important in those first two years.

Authorities acknowledge that this is an intense period of physical recovery and emotional and practical adjustment for mothers.

The history and present state of maternity allowance in the UK

But despite the value the government places on the early years, statutory paid parental leave still lags behind many countries in Europe and the rest of the world. This has been well-known since 1988, when a European Commission report noted that the UK was the only country not to provide full statutory maternity leave at the time and had even blocked a directive that would have established new standards for parental leave.

It wasn’t until the 1990s that legislation expanded the minimum of two weeks’ compulsory maternity leave (four weeks for factory workers) to all working women. Today, the maximum statutory maternity leave is 52 weeks, of which the first six are paid at 90% of your weekly wage. The following 33 weeks are paid at £187.18 or 90% of your average weekly earnings (whichever is lower), and the rest is unpaid. Further payments or time off are at the discretion of your employer.

How we made a fair comparison between the maternity pay offered by countries around the world

To compare these allowances with those of other countries around the world, Moorepay reviewed the statutory legislation in each country to determine the duration and payment rates of maternity leave. We then calculated the average value of maternity leave in each country in the local currency based on the national average income, which we sourced from the World Bank.

To make a fair comparison, we then converted these local figures into international dollars using the Purchasing Power Parity conversion factors for each country. The international dollar is a hypothetical currency the World Bank uses to create a realistic comparison of the buying power of local currencies. It reflects “the comparable amount of goods and services a U.S. dollar would buy in the United States”.

In our study we found the maximum maternity payable to an employee on the national average salary in each country. We converted these figures to ‘international dollars’ (Intl$) to compare the spending power of each allowance locally.

Norway has the most generous maternity pay of any country. In absolute terms, the government offers up to 663,132 krone, which converts directly to $65,917 (£48,732). However, in Norway, you could use this amount to pay for goods and services that would cost $73,955 in the U.S. Hence, the latter figure represents Norway’s maximum maternity pay in international dollars.

Using the map below

Press the Intl$ and GBP buttons below to see the international dollar version, which accounts for the difference in cost of living, and the GBP version which shows the unadjusted amounts.

By this metric, Norway’s lead over Finland ($42,289, £31,535 or Intl$46,952) becomes more profound. In fact, by this metric, Romania leapfrogs Finland into second place. In Romania, the maximum maternity pay is 91,543 lei, £15,504 or $20,730. But because prices are so low in Romania, the value in international dollars is Intl$49,777 – meaning Romania’s maternity pay goes 6% further than Finland’s when paying for goods or services locally.

The cost of living in the UK also depresses the value of maternity pay relative to many other countries. Only 16 countries offer more than the UK’s maximum of £8,940 or $12,119 in absolute terms (this maximum applies to somebody earning the average UK salary). But there are 25 countries where maternity pay goes further than in the UK, where the value in international dollars is Intl$12,880.

In fact, as the above ranking shows, the average maternity pay in the UK would need to be worth more than three and a half times as much in the shops to put the UK in the top five countries. In Europe alone, 18 countries offer higher average maternity pay when calculated using international dollars.

However, things could be much worse. There are four countries where there is no statutory maternity pay – and one of them is the U.S.

Historically, the lack of maternity pay in the U.S. can be traced back 80 years to the end of World War 2, when many European countries legislated for better parental support to encourage population growth without impacting the female workforce on which these countries had come to rely. But the U.S. population had not been severely impacted by the war, and healthy levels of immigration kept the workforce strong. The U.S. also defined itself against such socialist-leaning policies, despite the fact that parental leave is popular across the political divide.

While there is no federal paid maternity leave, 13 states and the District of Columbia have mandatory paid leave in place, mostly using social insurance plans funded through payroll taxes. California’s Paid Family Leave (PFL) program offers applicants eight weeks of leave at 60-70% of their regular wage. One study has shown the policy to have improved “mothers’ labor market outcomes” and the reported health of mothers and children.

Next, we looked at the duration of paid maternity leave each country offers.

Romania is top by a decent margin. Mothers in Romania can claim maternity pay equal to 85% of their average income over the preceding six months. The first 63 days of postnatal leave are mandatory to promote the health of the mother and child. Maternity leave can continue for up to two years (104 weeks).

Again, the U.S. is among four countries that offer no paid maternity leave (see above). Of those that do offer paid maternity leave, Eswatini provides the least. Mothers in Eswatini who have worked for their employer for at least a year can claim up to six weeks of prenatal and six weeks postnatal leave, but only two of these weeks are paid. And they cannot take maternity leave two years in a row.

You can compare each country’s statutory maternity leave and pay in their local currency, U.S. dollars and international dollars (allowing for local purchasing power) using the interactive table below.

In the UK, to be eligible for the maximum 39 weeks of maternity pay, you need to have had at least 26 weeks’ continuous employment by the ‘Qualifying Week,’ which is 11 weeks before the ‘expected week of childbirth’ (EWC – this is also the earliest date you can start maternity leave). In fact, for fifteen years after maternity leave legislation was first passed in 1975, around half of working women were ineligible due to the longer period of work needed to qualify.

 It’s useful to know that while you’re on maternity leave, you continue to accrue holiday entitlement as during normal working periods. You can’t take holiday leave while you’re on maternity, but you can save it to use in the following holiday year.

Methodology and sources

We conducted manual research into statutory legislation in every country to determine the duration and payment rates of maternity leave. We then calculated the average value of the maternity leave in each country in the local currency using the average income sourced from the World Bank.

To make a fair comparison, factoring in the cost of living in each country, we then converted these figures into international dollars using the Purchasing Power Parity conversion factors for each country. As per the World Bank, the international dollar is “the comparable amount of goods and services a U.S. dollar would buy in the United States.”

The research and calculations consider the following criteria and assumptions:

• Only paid statutory maternity leave was considered.
• Value calculations concern the first-born child.
• Parental leave was included in the maternity leave if it was continuous from the maternity leave and also paid.
• In circumstances where parents can exchange parental leave, the maximum paid parental leave for the mother was calculated.
• Any maternal grants were added to the total valuations.
• Countries without Purchasing Power Parities were omitted from the data.

The data is correct as of June 2025.