Maternity and paternity leave allowance

1. During the period of pregnancy and childbirth, as well as in the case of adoption and foster care, there is protection for maternity and paternity which differs according to the work category you belong to.

• If you are an employed worker, you are entitled to an obligatory 5-month absence from work, compensated at 80% of your salary.  For some types of female workers such as: agricultural workers, home helpers and carers, domestic workers, unemployed or with a suspended employment contract, with obligatory absence from work, protection is granted if certain legal requirements are met.
• If you are self-employed, if you meet the contribution requirements of the law, you are entitled to an allowance equal to 80% of your income, with no obligation to be absent from work.
• If you are a worker registered with the INPS separate national insurance and pension scheme (as per Article 2(26) of Law No 335/1995), if you meet the contribution requirements of the law, you are entitled to an allowance equal to 80% of 1/365 of the income deriving from dependent self-employment, joint venture or freelance professional activity, calculated on the basis of the income from work produced in the 12 months preceding the month in which the allowance period begins. This allowance is paid without any obligation to be absent from work.
• If you are an employed or self-employed father or a worker registered with the INPS separate management scheme, if the mother is unable to care for the child - for example in the event of her death or serious illness, abandonment of the child by the mother, the father's sole custody of the child - you are entitled to paternity leave of the same duration as would have been due to the mother, or an allowance depending on the working category to which you belong.
• If you are a father who is an employed worker, you are also entitled to a compulsory leave compensated at 100% of your salary currently equal to seven days (to be taken within five months of the birth, or adoption/custody of the child and not necessarily on a continuous basis) which can also be taken at the same time as the mother's maternity leave. You may also benefit from another day of optional parental leave, if the mother renounces one day of her maternity leave.
• If you do not meet the requirements to access the above-mentioned protections, you can apply for a maternity allowance, paid by the Municipality of residence, for each child born or adopted by citizens of an EU country or citizens of a non-EU country in possession of certain residence permits. This benefit is not compatible with other maternity benefits.
• If you have previous contributions, even without a current employment relationship, you may apply for a State maternity allowance reserved for atypical or discontinuous work, if the legal requirements are met.

2. Parental leave is a right to abstain from work granted to parents for the care of children in the first years of their lives or when the children enter the family or arrive in Italy in case of national or international adoption/foster care.

• If you are an employed parent, you can take leave from work for a maximum of 10 months for each child (up to 11 months if the father takes leave for a continuous or fractional period of no less than three months) within the first 12 years of the child's life (or from the date of entry into the family or arrival in Italy in the case of national or international adoption/foster care).
  Within the above-mentioned limit for couples, the working mother can take a maximum of 6 months of parental leave and the working father can take a maximum of 6 months (extendable to 7 months if he takes leave for a continuous or fractional period of no less than 3 months).
  Each working parent is entitled to 3 months of non-transferable benefits at a rate equal to 30% of their salary. Only one of the parents can receive an increased amount for a total maximum of 2 months, up to the child's sixth year of life, at 80% of the salary for a maximum of one month, and at 60% of the salary for a maximum of an additional month, which will be increased to 80% for the year 2024 only. The parents are entitled, alternatively between them, to an additional period of leave lasting a total of 3 months, for which they will receive a benefit equal to 30% of their salary.
  The additional months of leave that can be taken up to the couple's limit will not be compensated. They can be compensated at 30% of the salary if the individual income of the employee is less than 2.5 times the amount of the minimum pension borne by the general compulsory insurance.
  If you are a single parent (due to death, serious illness of the other parent, or due to abandonment/failure to acknowledge a child or due to exclusive custody of the child to only one of the parents) you are entitled to the same right to parental leave as a couple of parents.
• If you are a parent enrolled in the Separate Pension Scheme, you can abstain from work for a maximum of 9 months for each child within the first 12 years of the child's life (or from the date of entry into the family or arrival in Italy in case of national or international adoption/foster care).
  Each parent is entitled to a period of leave equal to 3 months. The parents are entitled, alternatively between them, to an additional 3 months of leave, for a total of 9 months overall, all compensated at 30% of the average daily income received in the 12 months preceding the start of the compensable period or, if taken during the child's first year of life (or from the date of entry into the family/Italy), in the 12 months preceding the start of the compensable maternity or paternity period.
• If you are self-employed parents, you can take leave from work for a maximum of 3 months for each child within the child's first year of life (or from the date of entry into the family or arrival in Italy in the case of national or international adoption/foster care). For periods of leave, a benefit equal to 30% of the annually established conventional salary will be granted.

You must submit your application for maternity or paternity benefit, as well as a claim for parental leave, to INPS online, or via the Multichannel Contact Centre or Patronato (institutions for advice and social assistance), before the start of the maternity leave and, in any case, no later than one year after the end of the allowance period.

Together with the claim for maternity leave, you must submit to INPS the e-certificate of pregnancy issued by a National Health Service doctor or one affiliated with it.

To find out under what circumstances and how you can apply, what you are entitled to and who you can contact, please see the following chapters of the MISSOC (Mutual Information System on Social Protection) Guide.

Please note: updates for 2020 are being published by the MISSOC (Mutual Information System on Social Protection) Guide.

Maternity and paternity leave allowance

Reference legislation

• Art. 31 of the Italian Constitution (in Italian).
• Decree of the President of the Republic no. 1403 of 31 December 1971 (in Italian): Regulations governing social insurance obligations in relation to workers engaged in domestic and family services and workers engaged in the refurbishment and cleaning of premises.
• Decree of the President of the Republic no. 1026 of 25 November 1976 (in Italian): Regulation implementing Law No 1204 of 30 December 1971 on the protection of working mothers.
• Law no. 184 of 4 May 1983 (in Italian): Right of the minor to a family.
• Legislative Decree no. 151 of 26 March 2001 (in Italian): Consolidated text of the legislative provisions on the protection and support of maternity and paternity, in accordance with Article 15 of Law No 53.
• Law no. 92 of 28 June 2012 (in Italian): Provisions on labour market reform from a growth perspective.
• Legislative Decree no. 80 of 15 June 2015 (in Italian): Measures to reconcile care, life and work needs, in implementation of Article 1(8) and (9) of Law No 183 of 10 December 2014.
• Law no. 81 of 22 May 2017 (in Italian): Measures for the protection of non-entrepreneurial self-employment and measures aimed at encouraging flexible working hours and places of employment.
• Legislative Decree no. 105 of 30 June 2022 (in Italian): implementing Directive (EU) 2019/1158 of the European Parliament and Council of 20 June 2019 on work-life balance for parents and carers repealing Council Directive 2010/18/EU (22G00114).