More dads taking paternity leave

The number of new fathers taking voluntary paternity leave went up four times in 2014, figures from the Polish state insurer ZUS reveal.

As many as 129,400 men took the leave in 2014, up from 28,500 in 2013 and merely around 15,000 in 2011, the numbers show.

When taking into account employees of companies with more than 20 personnel, that figure may be even higher, ZUS underlines.

Since 2013, a new labour and social package in Poland now allows men to take two paid weeks off work to look after their newborns, but must be used up until the child turns one.

However, ZUS data shows that Polish fathers are still not keen on taking parental leave, an extra eight weeks to look after children which can be split between the mother and father. In December 2014, only 1,600 men took the leave out of a total of 130,000 parents.