National pledges to extend paid parental leave to 30 weeks

Sunday, 26 July 2026

The National Party promises to extend New Zealand's paid parental leave from 26 weeks to 30 weeks by 2029 if re-elected.

National plans to allow parents to take paid parental leave simultaneously, scrapping current restrictions that prevent overlapping time off.

The proposed policy includes a longer-term goal to eventually extend paid parental leave to 40 weeks or roughly nine months.

The National Party says it will overhaul New Zealand’s paid parental leave (PPL) scheme if re-elected, expanding entitlement to 30 weeks by 2029 and grant parents the flexibility to share paid time off.

Under the policy, a re-elected National government would incrementally raise the current 26-week PPL entitlement – starting with an increase to 27 weeks in its first Budget – with a longer-term ambition to extend paid leave to 40 weeks, or roughly nine months.

Beyond extending the timeframe, National plans to modernize restrictions that currently stop parents from taking paid leave at the same time.

Freedom to share leave

Existing law limits how partners can split or overlap parental leave entitlements. National’s policy promises to scrap these rules, allowing caregivers to structure their allocated weeks in whatever combination works best for their household.

Partners could choose to instead of one parent taking 30 weeks both parents could take 15 weeks together. Or they could take four weeks together, one parent could then take 10 weeks, and then the other parent could take 12 weeks after that.

“Under the current law, parents are prevented from taking paid leave at the same time or in overlapping instalments,” said National Finance spokesperson Nicola Willis.

“Whether a dad wants to support mum in the first few weeks after birth, or two caregivers want to share paid leave in overlapping instalments, the choice should sit with families.”

Protection for holiday pay and retirement savings

Starting July 1, 2027, the Government would make standard default matching contributions directly into a parent’s KiwiSaver account while they are receiving PPL, regardless of whether the parent is actively making employee contributions.

The Employment Leave Bill will ensure annual leave taken shortly after returning to work is paid out at full value, rather than being diluted by low average weekly earnings calculations from the period spent on leave.

The phased rollout over three Budgets is intended to manage fiscal impact while moving toward surplus targets and national debt reduction, according to Willis.

Spokesperson for Women Nicola Grigg added that the changes focus heavily on maternal health and workplace retention. 'Extending paid parental leave gives more mums time to recover and return to work with confidence,' Grigg said, noting that flexible shared leave would provide critical help to mothers recovering from difficult births.

ACT blamed for failure to introduce flexible leave

Speaking to media on Sunday, Willis said the cost of the proposal would be $27 million next year, rising to $124 million a year once fully implemented.

Asked why National proposed to extend the timeframe rather than increase the weekly payments, Willis said National’s ultimate goal was to allow parents to spent more time with their babies - and increasing the rate would reduce its ability to do this.

The increase to 30 weeks’ was part of a longer-term plan to increase paid parental leave to 40 weeks. The phased rollout allowed the Government to stay on track for its surplus, Willis said.

On the subject of whether the payments also needed to increase, Willis said they were being lifted in line with wages and were now $811 a week. National wanted to lift wages overall, and paid parental payments would rise accordingly, she said.

National campaigned on flexible parental leave in 2023 but has been unable to get it over the line this term.

Willis blamed her coalition partners, saying this policy did not make it into National’s agreement with NZ First and the ACT Party.

“The ministerial responsibility for paid parental leave sits with Brooke Van Velden, who’s in the ACT Party. She didn’t prioritise this change in her work programme.

She added: “I think it is a shame that it wasn't prioritised … and we are really keen as a National Party to see this done.”

Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said Labour had “consistently supported extending paid parental leave. We introduced it, we expanded it.

“Why should we trust National on this now? They have had three years to make life easier for Kiwis and support families but instead have cut Best Start support for parents, reduced funding for school lunches, cut women’s pay, and failed to tackle the cost of living. Their economic mismanagement has seen unemployment and food prices soar, while providing tax breaks for tobacco companies and property speculators.

“Supporting parents needs to be about making sure families can afford to build a good life, here in New Zealand.”

NZ First leader Winston Peters was also critical of the timing saying on X “It’s good to see the National Party all of a sudden change their mind on extending paid parental leave after vetoing extending it and voting against it in 2016 and 2017.”

Curious timing

The announcement coincided with a controversy about paid parental leave this week.

Former NZ First candidate Stuart Nash resigned on Wednesday after making sexist comments about National MP Katie Nimon’s time off with her baby.

Nash had described Nimon as “the laziest MP around” after she took maternity leave last year.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon responded by saying Nash would not serve as a minister in a Government he led, and the NZ First candidate subsequently resigned.

Asked about the timing of the announcement, Luxon dismissed any suggestion that it was capitalising on the controversy, saying the party had a series of family policies which it was releasing over time.

Nimon took 10 weeks’ leave after giving birth in May 2025, before working part-time in her Napier electorate and returning to Parliamentary duties after six months.

She told reporters on Sunday that Nash had called to apologise to her on Thursday night.

“He just offered his apology for offending me,” she said.