The Verkhovna Rada approved in the first reading bill No. 7464 on amendments to the Law of Ukraine " 301 people's deputies voted for the corresponding decision.

The authors of the legislative initiative propose to provide the opportunity to receive parental leave until the child reaches the age of three and military personnel, as an equal right of each parent of a child.

As noted in the explanatory note to the draft, most NATO countries provide parental leave to male military personnel on the same terms as women, moreover, with the ability to use it in parts - father and mother in turn. So, for example, installed in Australia, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, Croatia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Lithuania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, etc..

The draft law proposes to amend Part 19 of Article 10-1 of the Law of Ukraine “On the Social and Legal Protection of Military Personnel and Members of Their Families”, which will establish the norm for granting parental leave not only to women, but also to men, on equal terms - as in peacetime.. However, there is one condition - both parents must be military personnel.

According to the initiators of the bill, the current norms of the Law of Ukraine "

In addition, the right to parental leave is consistent with:.

– Resolution of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe No. 2079 (2015) “Equality and shared parental responsibility: the role of the father”;

– Directive 2010/18/EU of 8 March 2010 implementing the revised framework agreement on parental leave (art.. 424, Annex XL of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU) + Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of October 25, 2017. No. 1106 "

“The same position is taken by the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights in the case of 22. 03. 2012 Konstantin Markin v. Russia (application no. 30078/06). The ECHR noted that parental leave must be granted equally to both male and female military personnel, otherwise it will be considered a violation of Art.. 8 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, which guarantees the right to respect for family life, and Art.. 14, which prohibits discrimination,” reads the explanatory note.

Recall that in April last year, the Verkhovna Rada allowed men to take parental leave after birth (maternity leave).

In particular, a new maternity leave of up to 14 calendar days was introduced, paid for by the employer.

One-time vacation up to two weeks (excluding holidays and non-working days) is now provided:.

a husband whose wife has given birth to a child;

- the father of the child, if he is not married to the mother of the child, but lives together and has mutual rights and obligations;

- grandparents, or other adult relative of the child who actually cares for her, if the mother (father) of the child is a single mother (father).

However, only one of the specified categories can receive maternity leave..

In addition, the law defines parental leave until the child reaches the age of three as an equal right of each parent..

Also, the law provides for the right to additional leave for both the husband and wife who have children or an adult child who is a person with a disability from childhood of subgroup A of group I.

In Ukraine, for several years now, there has been an alarming situation with the main indicators of statistics - births and deaths.. In 2020, compared to 2015, the birth rate fell by 28.8% over 5 years. A significant factor affecting the birth rate in Ukraine is the effect of delayed pregnancy in women of reproductive age, as well as the lack of a state program to increase this important state indicator..