WORLD Policy Analysis Center

Is there gender equality in the duration of paid leave for adoption?

This variable examines gender disparities in access to and duration of paid leave for adoption. Unlike paid leave available for the birth of an infant where small gender disparities may be justified to support maternal health and establish breastfeeding, there is no biological justification for gender disparities in paid leave for adoption. These disparities can reinforce outdated norms that women are caregivers and men are breadwinners.

In assessing whether leave is available to men and women, we applied eligibility criteria regardless of the terminology used to describe the leave. For example, Vietnam provides employees who are adopting an infant with what translates as “maternity” leave until the child reaches 6 months. However, the legislation further specifies that if both parents meet the eligibility requirements, only one of them can take the leave. For our analyses, we treat this paid adoption leave as leave that can be taken by either a mother or a father.

No paid parental leave for adoptive families means there are no specific provisions for parents who legally adopt an infant to take paid leave. This category includes both countries that have paid parental leave available for birth parents and countries that do not.

Only women can take paid leave for adoption in two-parent families means that paid leave for adoption is gender restrictive. In some countries, men may be able to take paid leave if they are the sole adopter, but not in two-parent different-sex couples.

Gender equality in duration of paid adoption leave means that there is no gender disparity in the duration of paid leave available. In some countries, however, while adopting fathers have access to the same duration of leave as adopting mothers, it is at a lower payment rate.

Paid leave for fostering an infant or for fostering to adopt an infant is not included unless the same policy applies to adoption leave. In some countries, paid leave for adoption is only available for infants or the duration is longer.

Countries

Afghanistan - No paid leave for adoption

Algeria - No paid leave for adoption

Angola - No paid leave for adoption

Antigua and Barbuda - No paid leave for adoption

Argentina - No paid leave for adoption

Bahamas - No paid leave for adoption

Bahrain - No paid leave for adoption

Bangladesh - No paid leave for adoption

Barbados - No paid leave for adoption

Belize - No paid leave for adoption

Benin - No paid leave for adoption

Bhutan - No paid leave for adoption

Bolivia - No paid leave for adoption

Botswana - No paid leave for adoption

Brunei - No paid leave for adoption

Burkina Faso - No paid leave for adoption

Burundi - No paid leave for adoption

Cambodia - No paid leave for adoption

Cameroon - No paid leave for adoption

Cabo Verde - No paid leave for adoption

Central African Republic - No paid leave for adoption

Chad - No paid leave for adoption

China - No paid leave for adoption

Comoros - No paid leave for adoption

Democratic Republic of the Congo - No paid leave for adoption

Republic of the Congo - No paid leave for adoption

Cote d'Ivoire - No paid leave for adoption

Cuba - No paid leave for adoption

Djibouti - No paid leave for adoption

Dominica - No paid leave for adoption

Dominican Republic - No paid leave for adoption

Egypt - No paid leave for adoption

Equatorial Guinea - No paid leave for adoption

Eritrea - No paid leave for adoption

Ethiopia - No paid leave for adoption

Fiji - No paid leave for adoption

Gabon - No paid leave for adoption

The Gambia - No paid leave for adoption

Ghana - No paid leave for adoption

Grenada - No paid leave for adoption

Guinea - No paid leave for adoption

Guinea-Bissau - No paid leave for adoption

Guyana - No paid leave for adoption

Haiti - No paid leave for adoption

Indonesia - No paid leave for adoption

Iran - No paid leave for adoption

Iraq - No paid leave for adoption

Jamaica - No paid leave for adoption

Jordan - No paid leave for adoption

Kiribati - No paid leave for adoption

Democratic People's Republic of Korea - No paid leave for adoption

Kuwait - No paid leave for adoption

Laos - No paid leave for adoption

Lebanon - No paid leave for adoption

Lesotho - No paid leave for adoption

Liberia - No paid leave for adoption

Libya - No paid leave for adoption

Liechtenstein - No paid leave for adoption

Madagascar - No paid leave for adoption

Malawi - No paid leave for adoption

Malaysia - No paid leave for adoption

Maldives - No paid leave for adoption

Mali - No paid leave for adoption

Marshall Islands - No paid leave for adoption

Mauritania - No paid leave for adoption

Micronesia, Federated States of - No paid leave for adoption

Morocco - No paid leave for adoption

Mozambique - No paid leave for adoption

Namibia - No paid leave for adoption

Nauru - No paid leave for adoption

Nepal - No paid leave for adoption

Niger - No paid leave for adoption

Nigeria - No paid leave for adoption

Oman - No paid leave for adoption

Pakistan - No paid leave for adoption

Palau - No paid leave for adoption

Papua New Guinea - No paid leave for adoption

The Philippines - No paid leave for adoption

Qatar - No paid leave for adoption

Rwanda - No paid leave for adoption

Samoa - No paid leave for adoption

Saudi Arabia - No paid leave for adoption

Senegal - No paid leave for adoption

Seychelles - No paid leave for adoption

Sierra Leone - No paid leave for adoption

Solomon Islands - No paid leave for adoption

Somalia - No paid leave for adoption

South Sudan - No paid leave for adoption

Sri Lanka - No paid leave for adoption

St. Kitts and Nevis - No paid leave for adoption

St. Lucia - No paid leave for adoption

St. Vincent and the Grenadines - No paid leave for adoption

Sudan - No paid leave for adoption

Eswatini - No paid leave for adoption

Switzerland - No paid leave for adoption

Syria - No paid leave for adoption

Tanzania - No paid leave for adoption

Thailand - No paid leave for adoption

Timor-Leste - No paid leave for adoption

Togo - No paid leave for adoption

Tonga - No paid leave for adoption

Trinidad and Tobago - No paid leave for adoption

Tunisia - No paid leave for adoption

Uganda - No paid leave for adoption

United Arab Emirates - No paid leave for adoption

United States of America - No paid leave for adoption

Vanuatu - No paid leave for adoption

Yemen - No paid leave for adoption

Zambia - No paid leave for adoption

Zimbabwe - No paid leave for adoption

Brazil - Only women can take paid leave for adoption in two-parent families

Costa Rica - Only women can take paid leave for adoption in two-parent families

Greece - Only women can take paid leave for adoption in two-parent families

Guatemala - Only women can take paid leave for adoption in two-parent families

Honduras - Only women can take paid leave for adoption in two-parent families

India - Only women can take paid leave for adoption in two-parent families

North Macedonia - Only women can take paid leave for adoption in two-parent families

Mauritius - Only women can take paid leave for adoption in two-parent families

Myanmar - Only women can take paid leave for adoption in two-parent families

Nicaragua - Only women can take paid leave for adoption in two-parent families

Panama - Only women can take paid leave for adoption in two-parent families

Paraguay - Only women can take paid leave for adoption in two-parent families

Peru - Only women can take paid leave for adoption in two-parent families

Suriname - Only women can take paid leave for adoption in two-parent families

Chile - Men can take paid adoption leave, but for a shorter period than women

Colombia - Men can take paid adoption leave, but for a shorter period than women

Cyprus - Men can take paid adoption leave, but for a shorter period than women

Mexico - Men can take paid adoption leave, but for a shorter period than women

Singapore - Men can take paid adoption leave, but for a shorter period than women

Tuvalu - Men can take paid adoption leave, but for a shorter period than women

Venezuela - Men can take paid adoption leave, but for a shorter period than women

Albania - Gender equality in duration of paid adoption leave

Andorra - Gender equality in duration of paid adoption leave

Armenia - Gender equality in duration of paid adoption leave

Australia - Gender equality in duration of paid adoption leave

Austria - Gender equality in duration of paid adoption leave

Azerbaijan - Gender equality in duration of paid adoption leave

Belarus - Gender equality in duration of paid adoption leave

Belgium - Gender equality in duration of paid adoption leave

Bosnia and Herzegovina - Gender equality in duration of paid adoption leave

Bulgaria - Gender equality in duration of paid adoption leave

Canada - Gender equality in duration of paid adoption leave

Croatia - Gender equality in duration of paid adoption leave

Czech Republic - Gender equality in duration of paid adoption leave

Denmark - Gender equality in duration of paid adoption leave

Ecuador - Gender equality in duration of paid adoption leave

El Salvador - Gender equality in duration of paid adoption leave

Estonia - Gender equality in duration of paid adoption leave

Finland - Gender equality in duration of paid adoption leave

France - Gender equality in duration of paid adoption leave

Georgia - Gender equality in duration of paid adoption leave

Germany - Gender equality in duration of paid adoption leave

Greenland - Gender equality in duration of paid adoption leave

Hungary - Gender equality in duration of paid adoption leave

Iceland - Gender equality in duration of paid adoption leave

Ireland - Gender equality in duration of paid adoption leave

Israel - Gender equality in duration of paid adoption leave

Italy - Gender equality in duration of paid adoption leave

Japan - Gender equality in duration of paid adoption leave

Kazakhstan - Gender equality in duration of paid adoption leave

Kenya - Gender equality in duration of paid adoption leave

Republic of Korea - Gender equality in duration of paid adoption leave

Kyrgyzstan - Gender equality in duration of paid adoption leave

Latvia - Gender equality in duration of paid adoption leave

Lithuania - Gender equality in duration of paid adoption leave

Luxembourg - Gender equality in duration of paid adoption leave

Malta - Gender equality in duration of paid adoption leave

Moldova - Gender equality in duration of paid adoption leave

Monaco - Gender equality in duration of paid adoption leave

Mongolia - Gender equality in duration of paid adoption leave

Montenegro - Gender equality in duration of paid adoption leave

The Netherlands - Gender equality in duration of paid adoption leave

New Zealand - Gender equality in duration of paid adoption leave

Norway - Gender equality in duration of paid adoption leave

Poland - Gender equality in duration of paid adoption leave

Portugal - Gender equality in duration of paid adoption leave

Romania - Gender equality in duration of paid adoption leave

Russian Federation - Gender equality in duration of paid adoption leave

San Marino - Gender equality in duration of paid adoption leave

Sao Tome and Principe - Gender equality in duration of paid adoption leave

Serbia - Gender equality in duration of paid adoption leave

Slovakia - Gender equality in duration of paid adoption leave

Slovenia - Gender equality in duration of paid adoption leave

South Africa - Gender equality in duration of paid adoption leave

Spain - Gender equality in duration of paid adoption leave

Sweden - Gender equality in duration of paid adoption leave

Tajikistan - Gender equality in duration of paid adoption leave

Türkiye - Gender equality in duration of paid adoption leave

Turkmenistan - Gender equality in duration of paid adoption leave

Ukraine - Gender equality in duration of paid adoption leave

United Kingdom - Gender equality in duration of paid adoption leave

Uruguay - Gender equality in duration of paid adoption leave

Uzbekistan - Gender equality in duration of paid adoption leave

Vietnam - Gender equality in duration of paid adoption leave