Paternity Benefit and Paternity Leave Before Childbirth
For employed fathers, paternity benefit includes 30 calendar days of paternity leave from the employer. The aim is to enable fathers to participate more in raising children.
Paternity leave can be taken up to 30 calendar days before the estimated date of birth of the child and until the child turns 3 years old. The paternity benefit is an individual right of the father – paid paternity leave can only be used by the father, and neither can be transferred to the other parent.
Where the birth registration data in the birth certificate and population register does not contain data about the father; the father or other parent of a child is dead, fails to perform the obligation to raise the child and care for the child or submits a written notice to the Social Insurance Board concerning the waiver of the right to receive parental benefit for fathers, the spouse or registered partner of the mother has the right to receive parental benefit for fathers.
Planning for paternity benefits and paternity leave
The basis for calculating paternity benefit is the daily rate, which is the same for all calendar months. The rate is calculated by dividing the monthly rate by 30 days. You can plan your paternity benefit in the self-service of the Social Insurance Board.
Paternity leave and paternity benefits can be planned from 30 calendar days before the estimated date of birth of the child until the child turns three years old.
If you want to use the paternity benefit before the child is born, you can plan it, using the personal identification number of the mother of the future child and the estimated date of birth of the child.
You will receive the paternity benefit offered by the Social Insurance Board’s self-service after the child has been born if you have not planned the paternity benefit before the birth of the child or have done so partially. The offer will be sent to you after the child has been registered in the population register.
Please note! The Social Insurance Board sends a notification about the self-service offer to the father’s e-mail. Make sure that your e-mail address is valid and available in the self-service section of the Social Insurance Board webpage. The paternity benefit does not include state health insurance. The health insurance of an employed father is provided by his employer for this period.
The amount and payment of paternity benefits
The paternity benefit is always calculated based on the child’s actual date of birth. To calculate the amount of the benefit, we first subtract the nine full calendar months preceding the child’s birth (i.e. the average length of pregnancy, regardless of whether the child was born premature, full-term, or post-term), and the calculation of parental benefits is based on the father’s income subject to a social tax of the preceding 12 calendar months. In other words, 12 months before the pregnancy used as the basis for this calculation constitute the reference period. From this, the monthly benefit rate is calculated, which in turn is divided by 30 to find the daily parental benefit rate.
If the father had no income subject to social tax during the reference period, the paternity benefit is determined at the minimum rate of the benefit, which in 2026 is 886 euros per month, with a daily rate of 29,53 euros. The year of the child’s birth is important when calculating the benefit because the minimum rate of the father’s parental benefit depends on the calendar year in which the child was born - the benefit rate is calculated according to the calendar year.
For example, if the father plans to receive the paternity benefit before the child’s birth in December 2025, but the child is born in January 2026, even though the father took leave in December, the father’s paternity benefit rate is calculated according to the child’s birth date. As this was in January 2026, the father will receive his paternity benefit at the 2026 rates.
If the father’s income subject to social tax in the reference period was equal to or less than the minimum wage, the paternity benefit is paid at the minimum wage, which in 2026 is 886 euros per month, with a daily rate of 29,53 euros.
The maximum amount of the parental benefit is two times the average Estonian salary of the year before the past year and is calculated based on the law (in 2026 3806,10 euros with the upper limit of the daily rate being 126,87 euros). If the father’s income, subject to social tax, is greater than or equal to 3806,10 euros, he receives the paternity benefit at the maximum rate.
Please note! The paternity benefit is granted on a gross basis because it is subject to income tax.
Calculating the parental benefit is made easy by the parental benefit calculator, which allows you to enter the amount of your income and play out various possible scenarios.
Granting and payment of paternity benefits
The paternity benefit is granted and paid after the child’s birth has been registered in the population register.
The Social Insurance Board pays the paternity benefit every month, similarly to the parental benefit. Thus, the paternity benefit for the past month is paid on the 8th of the following month.
If the 8th falls on a weekend or a national holiday, the parental benefit will be paid on the last working day preceding it. For example, if the 8th is a Sunday, the benefit will be paid on the 6th, i.e. on Friday.
For example, a father is entitled to a paternity benefit for 30 consecutive calendar days from June 10, 2026, to July 9, 2026. The paternity benefit is paid to the father in two separate payments for each month in the following month:
- Payment for the period of June 10, 2025, to June 30, 2026, will be made on July 8, 2026.
- Payment for the period of July 1, 2025, to July 9, 2026, will be made on August 8, 2026.
Please note! A father who planned paternity leave and additional parental benefits before the birth of the child will be paid the benefit within five working days after the child’s name has been registered in the population register.
The paternity benefit is subject to income tax, however, you are entitled to an exemption from income tax. You can notify the Social Security Board about your wish to use the income tax exemption when planning your paternity benefit or at a later date upon request in the self-service portal.
Paternity benefits and shared parental benefits
The father can use the shared parental benefit only if he has already used the days of the paternity benefit or waived the use of the paternity benefit.
Benefits cannot be used alternately - it is not possible to take the paternity benefit in one period, the shared parental benefit in the next, and then the paternity benefit again.
A father who for some reason cannot use the paternity benefit but wants to use the shared parental benefit can waive the use of the paternity benefit. It is possible to waive the use of partially unused days or all 30 days at once. The waiver is final and can be made only once – if the father has waived the use of paternity benefit, he will not be able to use these days at a later date.
If the child’s father and mother are separated, the father must be the registered father of the child who has custody of the child to receive the parental benefits.
Paternity leave
All employed fathers who are entitled to paternity benefits have the right to take paternity leave.
Please note! An employed father is a father who is in an employment relationship (working under employment contract or public service contract) and is entitled to receive paternity leave under the Employment Contracts Law.
You are not allowed to work during paternity leave. An employed father must take paternity leave from all his employers to use the paternity benefit and paternity leave.
Notifying the employer about paternity leave
We recommend that employed fathers discuss their wish to take paternity leave with their employer at least 30 calendar days before the start of paternity leave. The future father will receive instructions from the employer on how to record the paternity leave in the holiday schedule. The exact arrangement of this is up to the employer.
An employed father who is taking paternity leave in connection with the benefit also enters the e-mail address(es) of his employer(s) when planning the paternity benefit in the self-service portal of the Social Insurance Board. This is important so that the Social Insurance Board can inform the employer about the father's wish to start using paternity leave from the selected date. The employer has the right to refuse to grant the leave to the employee within five working days.
Impact of paternity leave on annual holidays
Although work is considered suspended while on paternity leave, it follows from the Employment Contracts Act that the corresponding time is still taken into account in the calculation of the annual holiday and therefore, the annual holiday is not shortened due to the time spent on paternity leave.
The right to receive an annual holiday depends on how many days the father takes as paternity leave. The employer receives the relevant information from the Social Insurance Board when the father plans the paternity benefit and paternity leave through our self-service and when we make the paternity leave entry in the employment register.
For example, the duration of an employee's annual holiday is 28 days per calendar year. The employee wishes to use 30 calendar days of paternity leave. The father is entitled to two days of annual holiday for the time spent on paternity leave (28/365 = 0.077 * 30).
What happens to the paternity benefit if multiple children are born in succession?
The use of parental benefits is child-specific. If the father has not used the right to paternity benefit for the first child, the birth of the next child does not deprive him of the right to receive the paternity benefit for his first child. The father has the right to use the paternity benefit until the child turns three years old.
Please note! The benefit will not be paid concurrently for two or more children. In the event of a multiple birth, the paternity benefit will be paid for a single child.
If the father has not made use of his paternity benefit for the first child but has done so for the second child, he will be entitled to shared parental benefits for his second child.
The father should keep in mind that the paternity benefit must be used before the child turns three, otherwise, it expires. This criterion is also child-specific - the 30 days provided for either child will be attributed to the specific child and based on his/her age.