Only about every tenth father takes more than two months parental leave. This is shown by a study presented on Wednesday by the Federal Institute for Population Research (BIB) for the period between 2009 and 2019. According to the evaluation, mothers still do most of the childcare. "Beyond the first few months of the child's life, there has been little further progress in the division of family work since the introduction of parental allowance," said Mathias Huebener, a research associate at the BIB.

Parental allowance was introduced 15 years ago and is an income replacement benefit of around 67 percent of prenatal income. It amounts to a minimum of 300 euros and a maximum of 1,800 euros per month and is paid to the caring parent for up to twelve months after the birth of the child. In addition to the parental allowance, both parents are entitled to a total of three years of parental leave, which, however, is not paid.

There has also been progress since the introduction of the income replacement benefit: The proportion of fathers who receive parental allowance has doubled over the years. While around 20 percent of fathers claimed parental allowance for children born in 2007, the proportion in 2019 was 43 percent. More than 98 percent of the entitled mothers consistently received parental allowance - most for more than ten months.