European Court to decide on double leave for single mums

The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) will rule on Thursday whether single mothers can enjoy double maternity leave; the one that corresponds to them and the one that would correspond to the other parent. This issue is currently being analysed by the Constitutional Court.

The Court will resolve the case of a woman who had a child in 2021 and requested the National Institute of Social Security and the General Treasury of Social Security for the additional sixteen weeks of leave that would have corresponded to the other parent if she had had a partner, as is the case in two-parent families.

Both organisations rejected the request under the argument that paternal leave in two-parent families is not automatic, since each parent must meet certain requirements. So granting it to a single mother automatically would be discrimination against two-parent families.

The Social Court number 1 of Seville referred the issue to Europe, considering that Spanish regulations do not take into account single-parent families, who in their opinion are disadvantaged compared to those of two-parent families both in terms of to work-life balance and time dedicated to children.