Parental leave, or family leave, is an employee benefit available in almost all countries. The term "parental leave" may include maternity, paternity, and adoption leave; or may be used distinctively from "maternity leave" and "paternity leave" to describe separate family leave available to either parent to care for small children. In some countries and jurisdictions, "family leave" also includes leave provided to care for ill family members. Often, the minimum benefits and eligibility requirements are stipulated by law.
Demonstration for parental leave in the European Parliament
Father spending time with daughter
Family policy during World War II when women were recruited into the workplace
Mother spending time with her child
A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the case of gestational surrogacy.
Portrait of a woman holding a baby, c. 1900 – c. 1920
Statue of a mother with children at the Monumental Cemetery of Staglieno in Genoa
Mother and child. Gandola Monastery, Lahaul, India.
Sikkimese mother with child
