Status of Maternity Protection
by Country
New chart, last update August 2008, is ready!
Singapore has increased its maternity leave from 12 weeks to 16 weeks!
The previous increase was from 8 weeks to 12 weeks in 2004. The government is encouraging families to have more babies and calls for a balance family-career life.
There is an addition of Liberia, bringing the total country in the chart to 176 countries.
About 48% of the countries in the world have maternity leave for 14 weeks or more. By region:
Africa (48%), Americas (23%), Asia/Middle East (25%), Europe (93%) and Oceania (28.6%)
About 70% of the countries in the world have breastfeeding breaks. By region:
Africa (76%), Americas (60%), Asia/Middle East (62.5%), Europe (82%) and Oceania (43%)
Currently, there are 15 countries which ratified C183 - Albania, Austria, Belarus, Belize, Bulgaria, Cuba, Cyprus, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mali, Republic of Moldova, Romania and Slovakia.
Breakdown by region: Europe - 12 countries, Americas - 2 countries and Africa - 1 country
A big thank you for all those who participated in updating the information in this chart!
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Most countries in the world provide for maternity protection legislation in one form or another. While the immense majority of nations do propose specifically termed "maternity protection" laws, some others, such as Switzerland for example, do not. In such cases however, either the national labour code, or the health insurance regulation, or the civil code, or even other areas - or all of these together - contain protective legislation for working mothers-to-be and new mothers. When examining the situation in your country it is important to take this into consideration.
Again, the vast majority of countries provide for paid maternity leave. Paid leave may be as short as 8 weeks and only for mothers, as in Lebanon or Mozambique, but at the other extreme, it may cover both parents for a number of months as in Sweden. It is interesting to note that many countries in Asia and the Middle East remain in the lower brackets, offering in general less than 12 weeks paid leave; Latin American countries average closer to the 12-week range; though a number of African countries offer less than 12 weeks, many others allow 12 to 14 weeks break for their female employees. The European countries provide the longest - 14, 15 and 16 weeks and more - paid leave. One industrialised country, Australia, only provides the right to maternity/paternity leave, but it is unpaid leave. You may want to check the chart entitled Status of Maternity Protection by Country to see where your country stands.
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