The take-up rate of paternity benefit was below 60% that of maternity benefit in 2019, according to the findings of a new report by the Central Statistics Office.
The report is the first CSO release to examine employment data of people who received maternity and paternity benefits between 2016-2019.
It reveals that maternity benefit was paid to 5.3 per 100 employees in 2019, a decrease from 5.8 in 2016, while paternity benefit was paid to 3.1 per 100 employees in 2019, an increase from a rate of 2.9 in 2018.
In 2018, 45% of fathers entitled to paternity benefit did not avail of it.
Public Administration and Defence had the highest rate of maternity benefit at 8.3 per 100 employees in 2019, while Accommodation and Food Service Activities had the lowest rate at 2.5 per 100 employees.
The highest rate of paternity benefit last year was 5.6 per 100 employees in Public Administration and Defence, while the lowest rate that same year was in Accommodation and Food Service Activities at 1.1 per 100 employees.
Both maternity and paternity benefit rates were highest in large enterprises with 250 or more employees.
The report also reveals that one in ten women in receipt of maternity benefit in 2018 did not return to paid employment in 2019, with the figures suggesting that the likelihood of a woman returning to paid employment drops with each additional child, particularly for those who have had four or more children.
The report also found that 54% of women in receipt of maternity benefit in 2019 received a top-up payment from their employer in addition to their maternity benefit payment.
