The number of employees who took parental leave fell to 67,000 in 2008 compared to over 75,000 in the preceding three years, reports the national statistics office CBS on Monday.

In total 250,000 workers with children under the age of eight were entitled to take up to 13 weeks off.
Most of those that did so – 43,000 women and 24,000 men – had children under two years old and spread their parental leave throughout the year.