In the beginning of December, some 4,300 babies were registered in the Parental Leave Fund due to parents taking a post-natal leave of absence, Kjarninn reports.
The largest increase of children in Iceland for a single year was in 2010, when 4,521 babies were born. These children have been referred to as “financial crash babies” (“hrunbörn”), due to their arrival shortly following the 2008-2009 financial collapse of Iceland.
However, 2021 looks to be on track to break that record, this time with so-called “pandemic babies” taking the top spot.
The baby boom comes at a fortuitous time, in some ways. While parental leave in Iceland had for years been nine months–three months for one parent, three months for the other, and three months to share (usually given to the birthing parent)–parental leave is now 12 months long.
Each parent has the right to six months’ leave, with the option of one parent being able to give six weeks to the other. During this time, they receive 80% of their average monthly salary, although no more than 600,000 ISK per month.
Congratulations to these new parents: may your children grow up in better times than we are currently experiencing.
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