Half of Mothers Already Struggle to Make Ends Meet During Parental Leave, and It Might Get Worse

Having a baby in the Netherlands comes with a significant drop in income. Since 2022, both parents have been entitled to nine weeks of paid parental leave in the first year of their child's life, paid out at 70 percent of their daily wage through the UWV, the Dutch employee insurance agency. The remaining 17 weeks of parental leave are unpaid. For many families, the 30 percent income reduction during those nine weeks is already difficult to absorb. A plan from the new Jetten cabinet to cut the maximum daily wage cap threatens to make the situation considerably harder.

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How the leave system works

The parental leave payment is capped at 70 percent of the legal maximum daily wage, which in 2026 stands at €304.25 per day, equivalent to roughly €6,617 per month. Parents earning above this threshold receive no more than that maximum, meaning the effective replacement rate can be significantly below 70 percent of their actual salary.

Research by CBS has consistently found that the most common reason parents do not take up their full entitlement to parental leave is that the payment is too low. Parents on lower incomes simply cannot make ends meet on 70 percent of their wages. Career concerns are a secondary factor, particularly among fathers.

The planned cut and the backlash

The Jetten cabinet's coalition agreement includes a plan to lower the maximum daily wage by 20 percent from 2029. Because parental and maternity leave payments are calculated against this maximum, the cut would effectively reduce what many parents receive during leave.

Trade union CNV calculated that at least 25,000 women a year would be financially worse off as a result. Women with middle or higher incomes who previously received 100 percent of their salary during maternity leave would see that fall to 90 or 80 percent. CNV called the measure a "bevalboete," or maternity penalty. For parental leave, the impact is compounded: where parents currently give up 30 percent of their income, some could end up losing 40 or 50 percent under the new rules.

CNV chairperson Piet Fortuin called it "scandalous." "Women desperately need this leave. The cabinet is setting the Netherlands back in time with this penalty on parenthood," he said.

Parliament pushes back

On 24 March 2026, the Tweede Kamer passed a motion calling on the government to ensure the dagloon cut does not have negative consequences for parents using parental leave schemes, and to examine all alternatives to the measure.

Minister Vijlbrief of Social Affairs subsequently said he was prepared to look at exempting parental and maternity leave from the planned dagloon reduction, and committed to bringing a proposal to parliament before Prinsjesdag. The maternity element of the cut, the "bevalboete", appears to have the least political support, with D66 already publicly stating it should not proceed.

Fathers are not taking up their entitlement either

The financial barrier affects fathers disproportionately. Men apply for parental leave at half the rate of women. Two thirds of all parental leave applications come from women, and one third from men, even though both parents have identical entitlements. Employer Robidus, which tracks stress-related absence, warned that more than a quarter of employees with young children do not use the parental leave scheme at all, and that stress among young parents is rising as a result.

The early division of caring responsibilities established in the first weeks after a child is born tends to persist for years. When fathers cannot afford to take leave, mothers absorb a larger share of childcare and are more likely to reduce their working hours long-term, reinforcing the gender pay gap.