Parents who return to work during parental leave could receive an incentive of approximately 4,000 lei per month. What the PNL bill provides

PNL proposes that parents who return to work earlier receive a reintegration incentive equal to the childcare allowance they would have received if they had remained on parental leave. The measure is included in legislative bill L604/2026 and is not yet in force.

Currently, the incentive is 1,500 lei per month for parents who resume work before the baby turns six months old and 650 lei for returning later. According to PNL, the average childcare allowance is approximately 4,000 lei, and the financial difference may discourage returning to work.

The bill was initiated by Senator Gabriela Horga and Deputies Raluca Turcan, Robert Sighiartău, and Ionel Bogdan. If adopted, the incentive would be calculated individually, based on the allowance to which each parent was entitled, rather than set at a fixed amount.

The initiative retains the 650-lei incentive after the child turns two, or three in the case of children with disabilities, until the age of three, or four, respectively. The Liberals argue that the measure would support families and parents' return to the labor market amid declining birth rates. According to data cited by the party, 145,725 children were born in 2025, the lowest number since 1930.