Data

Days of paid leave for childbirth and early childcare for the mother

What you should know about this indicator

  • This indicator is created by combining three specific types of parental leave. These components, together, provide a detailed understanding of the total leave available to mothers in relation to childbirth and early childcare.
  • The first component, the length of paid maternity leave, focuses on the leave specifically designated for mothers at the time of childbirth. This includes the days available exclusively to mothers to support them in bonding with the newborn and assisting in early childcare. This leave plays a crucial role in supporting the mother's engagement during the early stages of a child's life.
  • The second component, the length of paid parental leave for mother, includes days of parental leave that are specifically reserved for mothers. These are often defined by policies that support gender equality in parental responsibilities. This part of the indicator represents additional support provided to mothers, extending beyond the traditional maternity leave period.
  • The third component, the length of shared parental leave, represents the portion of leave that can be shared between parents. This flexibility allows for a more equitable distribution of childcare responsibilities and supports gender equality.
  • By integrating these components, the indicator provides a total count of the calendar days of leave available to mothers.
  • This indicator uses standardized assumptions, like the woman having one child and residing in the largest business city, to ensure comparability, though this approach may not capture variations in laws affecting women in different states, rural areas, or minority groups

This indicator is a sum of 3 different leave indicators provided by World Bank:

The indicator 'Length of paid maternity leave (calendar days)' is described by World Bank as:

Assumptions

It is assumed that the woman in question:

  • Resides in the economy's main business city.
  • Has reached the legal age of majority and is capable of making decisions as an adult, is in good health and has no criminal record.
  • Is a lawful citizen of the economy being examined.
  • Is a cashier in the food retail sector in a supermarket or grocery store that has 60 employees.
  • Is a cisgender, heterosexual woman in a monogamous first marriage registered with the appropriate authorities (de facto marriages and customary unions are not measured).
  • Is of the same religion as her husband.
  • Is in a marriage under the rules of the default marital property regime, or the most common regime for that jurisdiction, which will not change during the course of the marriage.
  • Is not a member of a union, unless membership is mandatory. Membership is considered mandatory when collective bargaining agreements cover more than 50 percent of the workforce in the food retail sector and when they apply to individuals who were not party to the original collective bargaining agreement.

For the questions on maternity, paternity, and parental leave, it is assumed that:

  • The woman gave birth to her first child without complications on October 1, 2023, and her child is in good health. Answers will therefore correspond to legislation in force as of October 1, 2023, even if the law provides for changes over time.
  • Both parents have been working long enough to accrue any maternity, paternity, and parental benefits.
  • If maternity benefit systems are not mandatory or they were not in force as of October 1, 2023, they are not measured.

Long definition from World Bank: The indicator refers to leave available only to the mother for the birth of a child to be taken just before, during and immediately after childbirth.

Source from World Bank: World Bank: Women, Business and the Law. https://wbl.worldbank.org/

Statistical concept and methodology from World Bank: Women, Business and the Law tracks progress toward legal equality between men and women in 190 economies. Data are collected with standardized questionnaires to ensure comparability across economies. Questionnaires are administered to over 2,000 respondents with expertise in family, labor, and violence against women legislation, including lawyers, judges, academics, and members of civil society organizations working on gender issues. Respondents provide responses to the questionnaires and references to relevant laws and regulations. The Women, Business and the Law team collects the texts of these codified sources of national law - constitutions, codes, laws, statutes, rules, regulations, and procedures - and checks questionnaire responses for accuracy. Thirty-five data points are scored across eight indicators of four or five binary questions, with each indicator representing a different phase of a woman’s career. Indicator-level scores are obtained by calculating the unweighted average of the questions within that indicator and scaling the result to 100. Overall scores are then calculated by taking the average of each indicator, with 100 representing the highest possible score.

Limitations and exceptions from World Bank: The Women, Business and the Law methodology has limitations that should be considered when interpreting the data. All eight indicators are based on standardized assumptions to ensure comparability across economies. Comparability is one of the strengths of the data, but the assumptions can also be limitations as they may not capture all restrictions or represent all particularities in a country. It is assumed that the woman resides in the economy's main business city. In federal economies, laws affecting women can vary by state or province. Even in nonfederal economies, women in rural areas and small towns could face more restrictive local legislation. Such restrictions are not captured by Women, Business and the Law unless they are also found in the main business city. The woman has reached the legal age of majority and is capable of making decisions as an adult, is in good health and has no criminal record. She is a lawful citizen of the economy being examined, and she works as a cashier in the food retail sector in a supermarket or grocery store that has 60 employees. She is a cisgender, heterosexual woman in a monogamous first marriage registered with the appropriate authorities (de facto marriages and customary unions are not measured), she is of the same religion as her husband, and is in a marriage under the rules of the default marital property regime, or the most common regime for that jurisdiction, which will not change during the course of the marriage. She is not a member of a union, unless membership is mandatory. Membership is considered mandatory when collective bargaining agreements cover more than 50 percent of the workforce in the food retail sector and when they apply to individuals who were not party to the original collective bargaining agreement. Where personal law prescribes different rights and obligations for different groups of women, the data focus on the most populous group, which may mean that restrictions that apply only to minority populations are missed. Women, Business and the Law focuses solely on the ways in which the formal legal and regulatory environment determines whether women can work or open their own businesses. The data set is constructed using laws and regulations that are codified (de jure) and currently in force, therefore implementation of laws (de facto) is not measured. The data looks only at laws that apply to the private sector. These assumptions can limit the representativeness of the data for the entire population in each country. Finally, Women, Business and the Law recognizes that the laws it measures do not apply to all women in the same way. Women face intersectional forms of discrimination based on gender, sex, sexuality, race, gender identity, religion, family status, ethnicity, nationality, disability, and a myriad of other grounds. Women, Business and the Law therefore encourages readers to interpret the data in conjunction with other available research.

License type from World Bank: CC BY-4.0

Development relevance from World Bank: The knowledge and analysis provided by Women, Business and the Law make a strong economic case for laws that empower women. Better performance in the areas measured by the Women, Business and the Law index is associated with more women in the labor force and with higher income and improved development outcomes. Equality before the law and of economic opportunity are not only wise social policy but also good economic policy. The equal participation of women and men will give every economy a chance to achieve its potential. Given the economic significance of women's empowerment, the ultimate goal of Women, Business and the Law is to encourage governments to reform laws that hold women back from working and doing business.

General comments from World Bank: 1. For the reference period, WDI and Gender Databases take the data coverage years instead of reporting years used in WBL (https://wbl.worldbank.org/). For example, the data for YR2020 in WBL (report year) corresponds to data for YR2019 in WDI and Gender Databases. 2. The 2024 Women, Business and the Law (WBL) report has introduced two distinct datasets, labeled as 1.0 and 2.0. The WBL data in the Gender database is based on the dataset 1.0.  This dataset maintains consistency with the indicators used in previous WBL reports from 2020 to 2023. In contrast, the WBL 2.0 dataset includes new areas of childcare and safety. For those interested in exploring the WBL 2.0 dataset, it is available on the WBL website at https://wbl.worldbank.org.

Notes from original source from World Bank: This indicator is additional to the 35 scored indicators, and associated to the following indicator "Paid leave of at least 14 weeks is available to women (1=yes; 0=no)" (SH.MMR.LEVE.AL).

World Bank variable id: SH.MMR.LEVE

The indicator 'Length of paid parental leave for mother (calendar days)' is described by World Bank as:

Assumptions

It is assumed that the woman in question:

  • Resides in the economy's main business city.
  • Has reached the legal age of majority and is capable of making decisions as an adult, is in good health and has no criminal record.
  • Is a lawful citizen of the economy being examined.
  • Is a cashier in the food retail sector in a supermarket or grocery store that has 60 employees.
  • Is a cisgender, heterosexual woman in a monogamous first marriage registered with the appropriate authorities (de facto marriages and customary unions are not measured).
  • Is of the same religion as her husband.
  • Is in a marriage under the rules of the default marital property regime, or the most common regime for that jurisdiction, which will not change during the course of the marriage.
  • Is not a member of a union, unless membership is mandatory. Membership is considered mandatory when collective bargaining agreements cover more than 50 percent of the workforce in the food retail sector and when they apply to individuals who were not party to the original collective bargaining agreement.

For the questions on maternity, paternity, and parental leave, it is assumed that:

  • The woman gave birth to her first child without complications on October 1, 2023, and her child is in good health. Answers will therefore correspond to legislation in force as of October 1, 2023, even if the law provides for changes over time.
  • Both parents have been working long enough to accrue any maternity, paternity, and parental benefits.
  • If maternity benefit systems are not mandatory or they were not in force as of October 1, 2023, they are not measured.

Long definition from World Bank: The indicator refers to days of parental leave reserved specifically for mothers—through “use-it-or-lose-it” policies or mothers’ quotas; or days of parental leave that employees are individually entitled to.

Source from World Bank: World Bank: Women, Business and the Law. https://wbl.worldbank.org/

Statistical concept and methodology from World Bank: Women, Business and the Law tracks progress toward legal equality between men and women in 190 economies. Data are collected with standardized questionnaires to ensure comparability across economies. Questionnaires are administered to over 2,000 respondents with expertise in family, labor, and violence against women legislation, including lawyers, judges, academics, and members of civil society organizations working on gender issues. Respondents provide responses to the questionnaires and references to relevant laws and regulations. The Women, Business and the Law team collects the texts of these codified sources of national law - constitutions, codes, laws, statutes, rules, regulations, and procedures - and checks questionnaire responses for accuracy. Thirty-five data points are scored across eight indicators of four or five binary questions, with each indicator representing a different phase of a woman’s career. Indicator-level scores are obtained by calculating the unweighted average of the questions within that indicator and scaling the result to 100. Overall scores are then calculated by taking the average of each indicator, with 100 representing the highest possible score.

Limitations and exceptions from World Bank: The Women, Business and the Law methodology has limitations that should be considered when interpreting the data. All eight indicators are based on standardized assumptions to ensure comparability across economies. Comparability is one of the strengths of the data, but the assumptions can also be limitations as they may not capture all restrictions or represent all particularities in a country. It is assumed that the woman resides in the economy's main business city. In federal economies, laws affecting women can vary by state or province. Even in nonfederal economies, women in rural areas and small towns could face more restrictive local legislation. Such restrictions are not captured by Women, Business and the Law unless they are also found in the main business city. The woman has reached the legal age of majority and is capable of making decisions as an adult, is in good health and has no criminal record. She is a lawful citizen of the economy being examined, and she works as a cashier in the food retail sector in a supermarket or grocery store that has 60 employees. She is a cisgender, heterosexual woman in a monogamous first marriage registered with the appropriate authorities (de facto marriages and customary unions are not measured), she is of the same religion as her husband, and is in a marriage under the rules of the default marital property regime, or the most common regime for that jurisdiction, which will not change during the course of the marriage. She is not a member of a union, unless membership is mandatory. Membership is considered mandatory when collective bargaining agreements cover more than 50 percent of the workforce in the food retail sector and when they apply to individuals who were not party to the original collective bargaining agreement. Where personal law prescribes different rights and obligations for different groups of women, the data focus on the most populous group, which may mean that restrictions that apply only to minority populations are missed. Women, Business and the Law focuses solely on the ways in which the formal legal and regulatory environment determines whether women can work or open their own businesses. The data set is constructed using laws and regulations that are codified (de jure) and currently in force, therefore implementation of laws (de facto) is not measured. The data looks only at laws that apply to the private sector. These assumptions can limit the representativeness of the data for the entire population in each country. Finally, Women, Business and the Law recognizes that the laws it measures do not apply to all women in the same way. Women face intersectional forms of discrimination based on gender, sex, sexuality, race, gender identity, religion, family status, ethnicity, nationality, disability, and a myriad of other grounds. Women, Business and the Law therefore encourages readers to interpret the data in conjunction with other available research.

License type from World Bank: CC BY-4.0

Development relevance from World Bank: The knowledge and analysis provided by Women, Business and the Law make a strong economic case for laws that empower women. Better performance in the areas measured by the Women, Business and the Law index is associated with more women in the labor force and with higher income and improved development outcomes. Equality before the law and of economic opportunity are not only wise social policy but also good economic policy. The equal participation of women and men will give every economy a chance to achieve its potential. Given the economic significance of women's empowerment, the ultimate goal of Women, Business and the Law is to encourage governments to reform laws that hold women back from working and doing business.

General comments from World Bank: 1. For the reference period, WDI and Gender Databases take the data coverage years instead of reporting years used in WBL (https://wbl.worldbank.org/). For example, the data for YR2020 in WBL (report year) corresponds to data for YR2019 in WDI and Gender Databases. 2. The 2024 Women, Business and the Law (WBL) report has introduced two distinct datasets, labeled as 1.0 and 2.0. The WBL data in the Gender database is based on the dataset 1.0.  This dataset maintains consistency with the indicators used in previous WBL reports from 2020 to 2023. In contrast, the WBL 2.0 dataset includes new areas of childcare and safety. For those interested in exploring the WBL 2.0 dataset, it is available on the WBL website at https://wbl.worldbank.org. The indicator name has been changed as of February 2021. 3. Previous indicator name: Length of paid parental leave for mother (days)

Notes from original source from World Bank: This indicator is additional to the 35 scored indicators, and associated to the following indicator "There is paid parental leave (1=yes; 0=no)" (SH.PAR.LEVE.AL).

World Bank variable id: SH.PAR.LEVE.FE

The indicator 'Length of paid shared parental leave (calendar days)' is described by World Bank as:

Assumptions

It is assumed that the woman in question:

  • Resides in the economy's main business city.
  • Has reached the legal age of majority and is capable of making decisions as an adult, is in good health and has no criminal record.
  • Is a lawful citizen of the economy being examined.
  • Is a cashier in the food retail sector in a supermarket or grocery store that has 60 employees.
  • Is a cisgender, heterosexual woman in a monogamous first marriage registered with the appropriate authorities (de facto marriages and customary unions are not measured).
  • Is of the same religion as her husband.
  • Is in a marriage under the rules of the default marital property regime, or the most common regime for that jurisdiction, which will not change during the course of the marriage.
  • Is not a member of a union, unless membership is mandatory. Membership is considered mandatory when collective bargaining agreements cover more than 50 percent of the workforce in the food retail sector and when they apply to individuals who were not party to the original collective bargaining agreement.

For the questions on maternity, paternity, and parental leave, it is assumed that:

  • The woman gave birth to her first child without complications on October 1, 2023, and her child is in good health. Answers will therefore correspond to legislation in force as of October 1, 2023, even if the law provides for changes over time.
  • Both parents have been working long enough to accrue any maternity, paternity, and parental benefits.
  • If maternity benefit systems are not mandatory or they were not in force as of October 1, 2023, they are not measured.

Long definition from World Bank: The indicator refers to parental leave that can be shared amongst the parents as they choose. Parental leave refers to leave available equally to parents—regardless of gender—for the purpose of childcare immediately following maternity and paternity leave OR instead of maternity and paternity leave.

Source from World Bank: World Bank: Women, Business and the Law. https://wbl.worldbank.org/

Statistical concept and methodology from World Bank: Women, Business and the Law tracks progress toward legal equality between men and women in 190 economies. Data are collected with standardized questionnaires to ensure comparability across economies. Questionnaires are administered to over 2,000 respondents with expertise in family, labor, and violence against women legislation, including lawyers, judges, academics, and members of civil society organizations working on gender issues. Respondents provide responses to the questionnaires and references to relevant laws and regulations. The Women, Business and the Law team collects the texts of these codified sources of national law - constitutions, codes, laws, statutes, rules, regulations, and procedures - and checks questionnaire responses for accuracy. Thirty-five data points are scored across eight indicators of four or five binary questions, with each indicator representing a different phase of a woman’s career. Indicator-level scores are obtained by calculating the unweighted average of the questions within that indicator and scaling the result to 100. Overall scores are then calculated by taking the average of each indicator, with 100 representing the highest possible score.

Limitations and exceptions from World Bank: The Women, Business and the Law methodology has limitations that should be considered when interpreting the data. All eight indicators are based on standardized assumptions to ensure comparability across economies. Comparability is one of the strengths of the data, but the assumptions can also be limitations as they may not capture all restrictions or represent all particularities in a country. It is assumed that the woman resides in the economy's main business city. In federal economies, laws affecting women can vary by state or province. Even in nonfederal economies, women in rural areas and small towns could face more restrictive local legislation. Such restrictions are not captured by Women, Business and the Law unless they are also found in the main business city. The woman has reached the legal age of majority and is capable of making decisions as an adult, is in good health and has no criminal record. She is a lawful citizen of the economy being examined, and she works as a cashier in the food retail sector in a supermarket or grocery store that has 60 employees. She is a cisgender, heterosexual woman in a monogamous first marriage registered with the appropriate authorities (de facto marriages and customary unions are not measured), she is of the same religion as her husband, and is in a marriage under the rules of the default marital property regime, or the most common regime for that jurisdiction, which will not change during the course of the marriage. She is not a member of a union, unless membership is mandatory. Membership is considered mandatory when collective bargaining agreements cover more than 50 percent of the workforce in the food retail sector and when they apply to individuals who were not party to the original collective bargaining agreement. Where personal law prescribes different rights and obligations for different groups of women, the data focus on the most populous group, which may mean that restrictions that apply only to minority populations are missed. Women, Business and the Law focuses solely on the ways in which the formal legal and regulatory environment determines whether women can work or open their own businesses. The data set is constructed using laws and regulations that are codified (de jure) and currently in force, therefore implementation of laws (de facto) is not measured. The data looks only at laws that apply to the private sector. These assumptions can limit the representativeness of the data for the entire population in each country. Finally, Women, Business and the Law recognizes that the laws it measures do not apply to all women in the same way. Women face intersectional forms of discrimination based on gender, sex, sexuality, race, gender identity, religion, family status, ethnicity, nationality, disability, and a myriad of other grounds. Women, Business and the Law therefore encourages readers to interpret the data in conjunction with other available research.

License type from World Bank: CC BY-4.0

Development relevance from World Bank: The knowledge and analysis provided by Women, Business and the Law make a strong economic case for laws that empower women. Better performance in the areas measured by the Women, Business and the Law index is associated with more women in the labor force and with higher income and improved development outcomes. Equality before the law and of economic opportunity are not only wise social policy but also good economic policy. The equal participation of women and men will give every economy a chance to achieve its potential. Given the economic significance of women's empowerment, the ultimate goal of Women, Business and the Law is to encourage governments to reform laws that hold women back from working and doing business.

General comments from World Bank: 1. For the reference period, WDI and Gender Databases take the data coverage years instead of reporting years used in WBL (https://wbl.worldbank.org/). For example, the data for YR2020 in WBL (report year) corresponds to data for YR2019 in WDI and Gender Databases. 2. The 2024 Women, Business and the Law (WBL) report has introduced two distinct datasets, labeled as 1.0 and 2.0. The WBL data in the Gender database is based on the dataset 1.0.  This dataset maintains consistency with the indicators used in previous WBL reports from 2020 to 2023. In contrast, the WBL 2.0 dataset includes new areas of childcare and safety. For those interested in exploring the WBL 2.0 dataset, it is available on the WBL website at https://wbl.worldbank.org. 3. The indicator name has been changed as of February 2021. Previous indicator name: Length of paid shared parental leave (days)

Notes from original source from World Bank: This indicator is additional to the 35 scored indicators, and associated to the following indicator "There is paid parental leave (1=yes; 0=no)" (SH.PAR.LEVE.AL).

World Bank variable id: SH.PAR.LEVE

Source
World Bank - Women, Business and the Law (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data
Last updated
June 10, 2024
Next expected update
June 2025
Date range
1970–2023
Unit
days

Sources and processing

This data is based on the following sources

The World Bank Gender Statistics dataset provides a comprehensive range of gender-related indicators grouped by various topics. These indicators are categorized under different themes such as education, employment and time use, entrepreneurship, environment, health, leadership, norms and decision-making, technology, violence, and contextual information. Each category contains numerous specific indicators, covering a wide range of issues such as literacy rates, employment by sector, legal rights, health statistics, and more. This dataset offers detailed information and insights into various aspects of gender disparity and equality across different regions and countries.

Retrieved on
June 10, 2024
Citation
This is the citation of the original data obtained from the source, prior to any processing or adaptation by Our World in Data. To cite data downloaded from this page, please use the suggested citation given in Reuse This Work below.
World Bank Gender Statistics, World Bank, 2024. Licence: CC BY 4.0.

How we process data at Our World in Data

All data and visualizations on Our World in Data rely on data sourced from one or several original data providers. Preparing this original data involves several processing steps. Depending on the data, this can include standardizing country names and world region definitions, converting units, calculating derived indicators such as per capita measures, as well as adding or adapting metadata such as the name or the description given to an indicator.

At the link below you can find a detailed description of the structure of our data pipeline, including links to all the code used to prepare data across Our World in Data.

Read about our data pipeline
Notes on our processing step for this indicator

This indicator was created by Our World in Data by combining maternity leave, parental leave mother quota and shared parental leave indicators. For more details on each indicator see How producer describes this data.

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Citations

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To cite this page overall, including any descriptions, FAQs or explanations of the data authored by Our World in Data, please use the following citation:

“Data Page: Days of paid leave for childbirth and early childcare for the mother”. Our World in Data (2024). Data adapted from World Bank - Women, Business and the Law. Retrieved from https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/days-leave-available-for-mother [online resource]
How to cite this data

In-line citationIf you have limited space (e.g. in data visualizations), you can use this abbreviated in-line citation:

World Bank - Women, Business and the Law (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data

Full citation

World Bank - Women, Business and the Law (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data. “Days of paid leave for childbirth and early childcare for the mother” [dataset]. World Bank - Women, Business and the Law, “World Bank Gender Statistics” [original data]. Retrieved October 3, 2024 from https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/days-leave-available-for-mother