Giving up your job for a few months and staying at home with your child? In Thuringia, this is attractive to more and more fathers. But women still bear the brunt.
Weimar (dpa/th) - In Thuringia, significantly more fathers receive parental allowance than ten years ago. However, they still stay at home for significantly less time than women - the duration of parental allowance receipt has hardly changed over the past five years. This emerges from data from the State Administration Office in Weimar.
According to this, in 2021 around a third (34 percent) of parental allowances were granted to fathers. In 2011, the proportion was still 24 percent. Last year, the proportion of men was highest in Jena at 40 percent. In the district of Nordhausen it was lowest at 26 percent. Overall, the number of men taking paid family leave in Thuringia rose by almost 2,000 to 6,800 within ten years.
According to the figures, men in the Free State receive parental allowance for an average of around 3 months - women, on the other hand, 14 months. The figures have hardly changed for both sexes in the past five years. Fathers in the district of Hildburghausen spent the least amount of time with parental allowance, averaging 2.2 months. In Jena, fathers received parental allowance for an average of 3.6 months.
In order for both partners to be entitled to full parental allowance for 14 months instead of 12, one parent must receive wage replacement benefits for at least 2 months. According to the figures, most Thuringian fathers are just above this threshold.
The period of receipt of parental allowance can also be doubled - but then the payments are halved. For example, a parent can decide to be paid 1,000 euros per month for six months, or 500 euros per month for twelve months.
From the point of view of the Green family politician Babette Pfefferlein, a paradigm shift has set in over the past few years: "Many fathers simply don't just want to see their children grow up from afar, but want to spend time together with their children," said the family policy spokeswoman for the state parliamentary group. In addition, there is the relatively high employment rate of women and the desire not to put the job on the nail for long.
However, the increased proportion of fathers is not yet satisfactory - "because responsibility for care should really be shared in partnership, which is what most parents want". There is a need for many more opportunities in companies for such a parental break, more social acceptance and an end to the wage gap between men and women so that fathers can contribute time and care for children from the very beginning.
