From next year, new fathers in the Netherlands will be eligible for a week’s paid leave during the first four weeks of the baby’s arrival, social affairs minister Wouter Koolmees confirmed on Wednesday.

At the moment new fathers in the Netherlands only have two day’s paid leave, which is one of the smallest amounts in the EU.

In addition to five day’s paid leave, new dads will also have the right to take off five weeks in the first six months after the birth of the baby from 2020. They will then be paid 70% of their wages.

‘When you have a baby everything changes,’ Koolmees said, announcing the new measure at a mother and baby trade fair in the RAI exhibition centre. ‘You find yourself in the middle of the rush hour of life. Then some extra time together is very useful to get used to living with a new baby. This will give mother, partner and baby a better start.’

In addition, ‘tasks in and around the house and work will be divided more equally and that will be beneficial in the long run,’ Koolmees said.

The new rules also apply to partners in same sex couples.