was 10,000!!! I stopped working a year before I had DD (after 2 miscarriages, and due in part to a particularly insensitive colleague) and started working part-time. Went from 5 day week to 1 day a week, and only dropped ?250 cause DH got taxed less. So for most women it is an incentive to stay home when they have kids, plus the generous maternity leave, and 3 yr holding of job. Paternity leave is becoming more popular too, with sharing of maternity/paternity leave rising. It is great at the moment cause DH is officially a married man with kids, so stays in that tax bracket, and I can earn as much as I like here (in theory) and it doesn't affect his taxes. ?154 a month per child family allowance, very cheap preschool (from 3 to 6yo) and subsidised under 3yo care. Having the job security is the big one, I think. Women feel comfortable taking longer maternity leave because their job is kept for them for 3yrs. And another 3 yrs for each subsequent child. Porto - It does sound lovely, but I do still wonder about the difference between mothers and fathers at work. From your description a good work-life balance for dads means leaving early, working a little flexibly etc... Whereas for women it means taking 3 years off per child and then going back. It is obviously better than being pushed out of the workplace altogether, but it still seems lopsided. Do people in Belgium