MPs propose protecting parental leave payments for closely spaced births

Five Independence Party MPs have proposed preventing parents from receiving lower payments from Iceland’s parental leave fund when they have children less than 30 months apart, mbl.is reports.

Under the bill, payments for a parent’s second child would match the parent’s most recent payments from the fund if fewer than 30 months had passed since they last became eligible for benefits.

Payments are generally calculated as 80 per cent of a parent’s average earnings over a 12-month period ending six months before the month of the child’s birth. If children are born close together, payments received during the first parental leave can fall within the calculation period for the next leave and reduce the amount payable.

The bill’s explanatory notes say parents often spread their payments and leave days over a longer period, partly to cover the time until a child can start preschool. As a result, their first period of leave can affect payments for a subsequent child.

The proposal would also cover parents who have recently completed their studies or returned to work after unemployment. A parent who has finished studying and worked continuously in the Icelandic labour market for at least three months during the previous 12 months would qualify for earnings-related leave. The same rule would apply to a parent who has worked for at least three months since their unemployment ended. The fund would be required to assess which calculation method would be most beneficial to the parent.

The changes would also apply to bereavement leave following miscarriage, stillbirth, the death of a child or the death of a spouse. The bill was introduced by MPs Bryndís Haraldsdóttir, Ingveldur Anna Sigurðardóttir, Sigurður Örn Hilmarsson, Ólafur Adolfsson and Njáll Trausti Friðbertsson; it is not a government bill.