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Publication: 9 April 2026 Latest update: 27 October 2026
What is it?
It is an optional period of time off work available to parents to care for their child during the first years of the child's life.
The leave is intended to meet the child's emotional and social needs. In the event of adoption or foster care, the period starts from the child's entry into the family or into Italy.
Who is aimed at?
It is aimed at workers enrolled in the Separate Pension Scheme if they:
- are not pensioners;
- are not enrolled in other compulsory social security schemes;
- have paid the increased contribution of 0.72% (Article 59, paragraph 16, Law 449/1997).
How does it work?
The leave can be taken within the first 12 years of the child's life or from the child's entry into the family or into Italy in the event of adoption or foster care.
Each parent is entitled to three months of paid leave, non-transferable to the other parent. Parents are entitled to a further three months of paid leave, as an alternative between them. The maximum total paid period between the two parents is therefore nine months (INPS Circular No. 122 of 27 October 2022 (in Italian)).
In the event of multiple births, the leave is granted for up to nine months for each child.
The leave can be taken continuously or in a split form by days, but not on an hourly basis. Days are counted according to the same rules as for dependent workers.
In the event of adoption or pre-adoptive foster care, the same durations apply: three months for each parent, plus three months as an alternative between them, for a maximum total of nine months. The leave can be taken within 12 years from the child's entry into the family, for national adoption or foster care, or from the child's entry into Italy, for international adoption or foster care.
In the event of non-pre-adoptive foster care, workers enrolled in the Separate Pension Scheme cannot take parental leave or receive the maternity or paternity allowance (INPS Circular No. 109 of 16 November 2018 (in Italian)).
For each eligible day, the allowance is equal to 30% of 1/365 of the income from work useful for contribution purposes in the Separate Pension Scheme. The income considered is the income received in the same 12 months used as a reference for the contribution requirement.
Periods of paid leave are covered by imputed contributions.
The right to the allowance expires one year after the end of the eligible period. The limitation period is interrupted if the applicant submits to INPS written documents with a certain date, for example payment requests or reminders.
INPS pays the allowance directly to the worker.
Claim
REQUIREMENTS
Parental leave is granted to workers enrolled in the Separate Pension Scheme (Law 335/1995) if they:
- are enrolled as coordinated and continuous collaborators and similar categories, or as professionals (Article 2, paragraph 26, Law 335/1995);
- have a valid employment relationship during the leave period;
- actually refrain from work;
- have at least one month of contributions actually paid at the increased rate in the 12 months preceding the start of the paid leave.
For periods of leave taken within the child's first year of life, or from the child's entry into the family or into Italy, one month of contributions actually paid at the increased rate in the 12 months used as a reference for the maternity or paternity allowance is sufficient (INPS Circular No. 42 of 26 February 2016 (in Italian)).
The principle of the automatic nature of benefits provided for by Article 64-ter of Legislative Decree No. 151/2001 does not apply to parental leave (paragraph 2 of INPS Circular No. 42/2016 (in Italian)).
The parental leave periods of the two parents cannot exceed nine months in total, even if taken under other schemes or social security funds.
WHEN CAN I CLAIM?
The claim must be submitted before the start of the leave period. If the claim is submitted later, INPS only pays for the days of leave following the claim date.
HOW CAN I CLAIM?
The claim for parental leave can be submitted to INPS online.
By clicking on “Use service” on this page, you can select:
- “Maternity and paternity claims”: the new service for submitting claims for parental leave for citizens and patronage institutes. In this section you can check the status of the parental leave counters using the “Consult parental leave counters” card;
- “Patronage Institutes Portal”: section reserved for patronage institutes, for consulting the claims submitted before publication in the new service “Maternity and paternity claims”;
- “Parental leave, maternity and paternity – Claim”: section reserved for citizens, for consulting the claims submitted before publication in the new service “Maternity and paternity claims”.
Alternatively, the claim can be made through:
- the Multichannel Contact Centre on 803 164 (free from Italian landlines) or +39 06 164 164 from mobile phones;
- patronage institutes and intermediaries of the Institute, through the online services they offer.
For further information, please refer to INPS Circular No. 109 of 16 November 2018 (in Italian) and INPS Circular No. 71 of 3 June 2020 (in Italian).
Processing times of the measure
The deadline to define the measure was set at 55 days by the Regulation for the definition of the terms to conclude the administrative proceedings adopted by INPS pursuant to Article 2 of Law 241/1990.