Italy - Maternity and paternity leave allowance
This chapter deals with benefits for:
- Maternity leave (congedo di maternità): for the period of pregnancy and post-natal recovery, a period of obligatory absence from work is prescribed for employed working mothers. For independent workers or self-employed professionals, there is no link between the benefit and any obligatory absence from work.
- Paternity leave (congedo di paternità): ten-day compulsory paid leave which can be taken separately and can be claimed within five months of the child’s birth, granted at the same time as the maternity paid leave. In the presence of serious conditions that prevent the mother from taking care of the baby, the right to absence from work and the relative allowance is granted to the father. In the five months after the child’s birth, the father can be entitled to one more day of unpaid leave (which can be paid if the mother agrees to transfer it from her own maternity leave).
- Optional supplementary parental leave (congedo parentale facoltativo): After expiry of the compulsory leave, a reduced paid leave may be claimed by either the mother or the father for a 9-month period altogether till the child reaches the age of 12 (or within 12 years after the child’s adoption).
- Paid nursing leave (Permesso per allattamento): One- to two-hour (depending on part-time or full-time work) daily nursing leave for the child’s mother or father until the first birthday of the child.
During maternity/paternity leave and the optional supplementary parental leave, you are entitled to cash benefits to replace income.
A reduced benefit is also provided for periods of optional parental leave.
You are also entitled to these benefits if you adopt or assume guardianship over children.
In what situation can I claim?
You are entitled to the Maternity/paternity leave for the period of obligatory absence from work if you are an employed worker and, under certain conditions, if you are a freelancer with a fixed-term contract signed up to a separate INPS scheme, an agricultural worker, domestic worker or caregiver, if you work from home, are unemployed or are a worker with a suspended employment contract.
If you are a self-employed worker, you are entitled to a 3-month parental leave (the allowance can only be granted in relation to effective absence from work) for each child, within the first year after birth or adoption.
You are entitled to Paternity leave if you are a working father. You can take 10 days of leave during the mother's obligatory leave plus one-day optional unpaid leave (or paid, if transferred by the mother’s leave). In addition, you are entitled to the same period of maternity leave if the mother is unable to take care of the child in the following cases: death or serious illness, abandonment, sole custody of the child with the father.
The parental leave allowance is granted, subject to various conditions, also to self-employed, independent and/or freelance workers.
The newly introduced Bonus for working mothers (Bonus mamma) is an exemption from pension contributions for working mothers (employees and assimilated, other than domestic workers) of 3 children or more with an open-ended contract. It is granted until their youngest one turns 18 years of age.
What conditions do I need to meet?
In general, for the maternity allowance, no minimum contribution is required, except if you are an agricultural, domestic, or independent worker or freelancer signed up to a separate INPS scheme.
During maternity leave, you must cease all working activity. This obligation applies for only 3 months within the child’s first year of life or after adoption if you belong to the categories of self-employed workers.
Absence from work is also required for paternity allowance.
With regards to parental leave, you can claim this whether you are the mother or the father, until your child reaches the age of 12 or until the twelfth year since the adopted child or child over whom you have guardianship enters the family. Various conditions are laid down if you are an independent worker (see below).
If you are a working mother of 3 children, you will be granted the Bonus for working mothers, until your youngest child turns 18. Particularly, in 2024, the Bonus will be granted experimentally to working mothers with 2 children until their youngest child turns 10.
What am I entitled to and how can I claim?
Cash maternity allowance is equal to 80% of pay and is payable for 5 months (2 prior to and 3 after the date of birth or 1 month prior to and 4 after). The leave is prolonged in the case of premature delivery or suspended in case of hospital stay of the newborn child in order to benefit of the time not used during the pregnancy or in case of prolonged hospital stay. In case of adoption or guardianship, the 5 months start from the date on which the adopted child or child over whom guardianship is assumed enters the family.
In case of miscarriage beyond the third month of pregnancy, the allowance is paid for a period of 30 days. Miscarriage after the 180th day is, however, considered for all intents and purposes as 'birth'.
Cash maternity allowance for self-employed amounts to 30% of the daily conventional earnings, as established by law on a yearly basis, for each worker’s specific category and conditional upon 3-month effective absence from work. Freelancers with VAT registration contributing into the Separate Pension Scheme are entitled to 30% of their daily (1/365) pensionable income.
Paternity leave: equal to 100% of pay for ten days.
Cash paternity allowance is equal to 100% of pay for the ten-day (twenty in case of multiple births) compulsory leave, within 5 months after the birth, which can be granted at the same time as the maternity paid leave and don’t have to be consecutive, whereas each daily leave cannot be claimed by the hour (the additional optional day can be paid on condition that the mother agrees to transfer it from her maternity leave).
Optional supplementary parental leave allowance: if you are an employed working parent, you have the right to a reduced paid leave. As parents you may claim up to 9 month-optional parental leave altogether till the child reaches the age of 12 (or within 12 years after the child’s adoption).
The cash benefit is equal to 80% of pay for 1 month (100% of previous earnings if you are a civil servant), 60% of pay (80% in the year 2024) for a second month of optional leave till the child turns 6 years and 30% of pay for the other 8 months. Parents may benefit from the 9 month-leave as follows: 3 months are reserved to each parent; the other 3 months can be transferred between parents.
The newly introduced Bonus for working mothers is equal to €250 (€3.000/12) derived from the monthly pension (IVS) contributions exemption.
If you are an independent worker, you can take optional parental leave for 3 months within the first year of your child's life or adoption. Entitlement to the cash allowance is conditional upon ceasing your working activity during the 3 months.
At the end of obligatory maternity leave and as an alternative to optional parental leave, you can ask for a voucher to purchase babysitting services, or a contribution towards the cost of public child services or accredited private services, for a maximum of 6 months.
Parents of adoptive children or children over whom guardianship has been assumed are entitled to the same forms of protection, except in case of non-pre-adoptive guardianship, for which a period of leave of 3 months is provided, which can be taken in fractions over the span of 5 months from the date on which guardianship is assumed.
If you are registered with the INPS, you must present a claim for maternity or paternity or optional parental leave benefits to either your employer or the INPS. Claims addressed to the INPS must be sent by one of the methods you will find by visiting this link.
Electronic claims are submitted prior to commencement of maternity leave and, in any case, no later than a year from the end of the allowance period.
If you are a worker, you must report your child's date of birth and relevant details within 30 days of the birth via one of the electronic methods listed above.
If you are an independent worker, you must submit an electronic claim after the birth.
You must submit an original copy of your medical certificate of pregnancy and any other medical health certificate required in order to provide cash maternity/paternity benefits, to the relevant INPS Office, at the counter or by sending a letter by registered post in a sealed envelope.
On the envelope containing a medical health certificate, please include:
- the protocol number issued during the online sending procedure;
- the words 'maternity/paternity claim documentation - medical health certificate'.
If you are an independent professional, you must consult the website of the social security organisation you belong to.
Jargon busters
- INPS: National Institute for Social Security;
- Employee organisations and tax assistance centres (Patronati, CAF): authorised centres that assist the user with compiling and electronically submitting a benefit claim (this assistance is totally free of charge);
- ISEE equivalent economic situation indicator (allows for assessment of families' economic circumstances and takes into account income, assets and composition of the household);
- Maternity leave: period of obligatory absence from work granted to the worker during pregnancy and post-natal recovery;
- Paternity leave: short period of compulsory paid leave and absence from work to which the father is entitled at the same time as the mother or long period of obligatory absence from work when the mother cannot use it for serious reasons;
- Optional supplementary parental leave: period of optional leave to which both parents are entitled for a maximum number of months and within a certain number of years since birth of the child.
Forms you may need to fill in
You must address claims for maternity, paternity and optional parental leave allowance to either your employer or the INPS, from whose site you can submit your claim online.
If you are an independent professional, you must consult the website of the social benefit organisation you belong to.
Know your rights
The following national links provide information about the social security rights provided for by Italian law:
Also, below is the link to access European Commission publications on coordination of social security rights for those who live or travel in the EU: