Prague, May 11 (CTK) – The Czech government approved paternity leave on Wednesday, thanks to which fathers will be able to stay with their new-born baby at home for a week as the support for families is vital, Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka (Social Democrats, CSSD) said on Wednesday.
It is not yet clear how much money will be paid to the fathers. The Labour and Social Affairs Ministry has proposed 70 percent of the base pay, the same sum as for maternity leave.
The legislation is now to be debated by the Chamber of Deputies.
Firefighters’ insurance will also be changed. “In the sickness insurance law, we supported voluntary firefighters,” Sobotka said.
“If they fall ill, they will be entitled to the 100-percent sick pay,” he added.
The people providing care for ill family members who do not live with them are to be newly given bonuses for this, too.
The plan was announced by Labour and Social Affairs Minister Michaela Marksova (Social Democrats, CSSD) last September.
The measures are to support families, she said.
Under the bill, men are to be able to start one-week paternity leave within six weeks after a baby is born. If they pay health insurance, they are to receive 70 percent of their base pay.
The paternity leave is to motivate men to join the care of their offspring and to strengthen the ties between children and their parents.
Some 100,000 children are born in the Czech Republic annually.
The paternity leave is to cost 630-800 million crowns a year, the state is to lose 72-93 million in taxes and the administration is to cost 30 million crowns a year.
More children, too, are to be eligible for orphans’ pensions. The Labour and Social Affairs Ministry says it will thus “ease the pressure” on the provision of benefits, roughly for 4,300 orphans.
They are to be eligible for a pension if the late parent was under 28 and paid insurance for at least a year during the past ten years or if the parents were over 38 and paid insurance for at least two years during the past 20 years.
The costs are to reach 300 million crowns a year.
