Maternity, partner and parental leave in the Netherlands
Leave around a birth in the Netherlands comes in separate pieces with separate rules: 16 weeks of maternity leave for employees, the ZEZ benefit if you are self-employed, a partner’s birth leave in two parts, and paid parental leave in the baby’s first year. Child benefit and childcare benefit are separate again, and each is claimed in its own way. Checked 20 September 2026.
Tell your employer when your maternity leave starts
Employees get 16 weeks of paid leave in total: pregnancy leave (zwangerschapsverlof) starting between 6 and 4 weeks before your due date, then maternity leave (bevallingsverlof) after the birth. You pick the start date inside that window and tell your employer at least 3 weeks before the leave starts, so at the latest 7 weeks before your due date. Checked against rijksoverheid.nl on 20 September 2026.
Applies to people who are employed (in loondienst). Paperbump schedules this usually between week 26 and week 33 of the pregnancy. What this step involves · rijksoverheid.nl
Claim maternity pay as a self-employed parent (ZEZ)
Self-employed people have their own arrangement, Zelfstandige en Zwanger (ZEZ), giving at least 16 weeks of benefit around the birth. It starts 6 to 4 weeks before your due date and you always keep at least 10 weeks after the birth. Checked against uwv.nl on 20 September 2026.
Applies to people who are self-employed (zzp). Paperbump schedules this usually between week 30 and week 34 of the pregnancy. What this step involves · uwv.nl
Partner's birth leave (geboorteverlof)
A partner in employment gets one working week of paid birth leave, taken in the first four weeks after the birth, paid in full by the employer. Tell your employer as early as you can so the week is planned rather than improvised. Checked against rijksoverheid.nl on 20 September 2026.
Applies to people who have a partner going through it with them. Paperbump schedules this within 4 weeks of the birth. What this step involves · rijksoverheid.nl
Partner's extra birth leave (aanvullend geboorteverlof)
After that first week, a partner can take up to five more weeks in the first six months after the birth, in one block or spread out. There is no salary during it: UWV pays up to 70% of the daily wage, claimed through the employer. Checked against uwv.nl on 20 September 2026.
Applies to people who have a partner going through it with them. Paperbump schedules this within 6 months of the birth. What this step involves · uwv.nl
Paid parental leave (betaald ouderschapsverlof)
Each working parent can take up to 9 working weeks of parental leave paid at 70% of their daily wage by UWV, as long as the weeks are taken in the baby's first year. Anything left over can still be taken unpaid until the child turns 8. Checked against uwv.nl on 20 September 2026.
Applies to people who are employed (in loondienst). Paperbump schedules this within 1 year of the birth. What this step involves · uwv.nl
Claim child benefit (kinderbijslag)
The municipality tells the SVB about the birth, and roughly 2 to 4 weeks later the SVB writes to you at the address where the baby is registered, inviting you to claim. You then apply on the SVB website with DigiD, or ask them for a paper form. Checked against svb.nl on 20 September 2026.
Paperbump schedules this between 2 weeks and 6 weeks after the birth. What this step involves · svb.nl
Claim childcare benefit (kinderopvangtoeslag)
If your baby goes to registered childcare, the government pays back part of the cost. You can claim as soon as the contract is signed, but only once the baby exists and has a citizen service number (BSN). Checked against belastingdienst.nl on 20 September 2026.
Paperbump schedules this within 6 months of the birth. What this step involves · belastingdienst.nl
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