Study of maternity leave in history

Abstract

This work shows the evolution of maternity leave in Spain from its origin in 1900 to the present day, considering that the different historical phases that the country has undergone have marked the path to follow (war, political ideals, dictatorship), both for and against these rights. Divided into three very different stages, it provides us with a global vision, in the first, the appearance of maternity and breastfeeding rights during the Industrial Revolution, when women joined the labour market in factories, a second stage coinciding with the Franco regime when some of these rights were limited and even eliminated, relegating the role of women to the domestic sphere, taking them away from the labour sphere, Finally, a third stage coincided with the birth of democracy in our country, recovering the rights lost and even extending them over the decades to facilitate not only the incorporation of women into the world of work but also to ensure their continuity in it by adopting conciliatory measures that make it possible to be a mother.
and a worker at the same time without reducing either of these facets in favour of the other. In this last stage, it is important to highlight the measures adopted recently and those to be adopted in the future from the new "Family Law" whose preliminary draft was approved in December 2022 by the Council of Ministers and which will entail a revolutionary change in maternity, breastfeeding and childcare leave, among others, with the aim of achieving a real reconciliation of family and work life, with special emphasis on single-parent