Petition calling for 100% paid maternity leave gathers 10,000 signatures

RIGA - An online petition on Manabalss.lv public initiatives website calling for 100 percent-paid maternity leave has gathered 10,000 signatures, which means that the petition now qualifies for submission to the parliament.

Signe Groza has been named as the initiative's representative. The petition was launched at the beginning of March 2019. 

The petition's author calls on Saeima to revise maternity and paternity leave policies and ensure that women are granted at least a day of 100 percent-paid maternity leave for giving birth. 

"In my view, the current policy which does not provide this opportunity to women is not in line with gender equality," Groza said. 

The author of the petition argues that under the current regulation, men can continue to work and receive full salaries when their children are born. Meanwhile, women after childbirth are usually left unable to work for a while  and have to go on maternity leave during which they only receive 80 percent of their average wages. 

During the child care leave the young moms or dads are entitled to following the maternity leave, they only receive 60 percent or 43.75 percent of their average wages, depending on the length of the leave.

Groza said that in most EU member states, including Lithuania and Estonia, young parents are entitled to 100 percent-paid maternity or paternity leave.