In the hope of encouraging more fathers to take paternity leave, a health ministry panel on Monday proposed a plan to increase child care leave allowance so that it covers 100% of income — up from around 80% — if both parents each take 14 days of leave or more.
When working parents take child care leave after the birth of their child, they are paid 67% of their income through their employment insurance. Since they won’t need to pay social welfare premiums during the leave, ultimately 80% of their net income is covered.
The 100% allowance, however, would only be offered for up to 28 days, with the amount for any further leave being around 80% of income. If the child is living in a single-parent household, or one of the parents is a freelancer or not working and therefore cannot take child care leave, the working parent would be eligible for the program, the panel said.