Carla is a freelance designer and pregnant. Between the joy and the paperwork came the practical fear: “I’ll go months without invoicing - so what do I live on?”. She thought paid parental leave was only for those with an employment contract.
It isn’t. A self-employed worker is entitled to Social Security’s initial parental benefit (subsídio parental inicial) - the support that replaces income during leave for the birth of a child. It’s worth understanding the rules, because there’s one choice that changes the amount quite a bit.
Yes, the freelancer is entitled
The initial parental benefit is paid to parents during leave for the birth of a child. To get there as a freelancer, you need:
One point for the self-employed: if there were interruptions, protection is kept as long as no gap of 6 or more consecutive months without contributions occurred between the break and the birth.
The choice that changes the amount: 120 or 150 days
Here’s the central decision. The initial leave can be taken in two durations - and the benefit amount changes depending on which you pick:
- Shorter leave
- Benefit at 100% of the reference remuneration
- You return sooner, but with no cut to the daily amount
- Longer leave (+30 days)
- Benefit at 80% of the reference remuneration
- More time at home, lower daily amount
In other words: 120 days pay more per day (100%), 150 days give more time but at 80%. The first 42 days are for the mother’s exclusive use, right after the birth.
Sharing the leave pays off
There’s a strong incentive for the father to take leave too: after the mandatory periods, if each parent takes, separately (not at the same time), at least 30 consecutive days or two periods of 15 consecutive days, they gain 30 extra days at a better percentage:
The father also has his own exclusive parental leave: 28 mandatory days within the first 42 days (6 weeks) after birth - of which the first 7, consecutively, right after the birth - plus 7 optional days, with its own benefit, on top of the shared days.
Example: Carla and Nuno share
Carla (a freelancer) and Nuno decide to share. They choose the 150 days at 100% option (120 of Carla’s + 30 shared). Carla takes the first 42 days exclusively, and then they arrange the rest between them. The result: more time with the baby without the drop to 80% they’d get if Carla took 150 days on her own.
If they wanted even more time, they could go to 180 days at 83% - or even 90%, if Nuno took 60 consecutive days (or two 30-day periods). It’s a trade-off between days at home and daily amount - and sharing is what lets you stretch the days without falling to 80%.
Warning: the parental benefit isn’t your income - it’s a percentage of the reference remuneration (worked out from the remunerations recorded over a reference period). If you’ve been contributing on the minimum or lowering the base, the leave will be paid on that low figure. And there’s a daily minimum (tied to the IAS) for cases where the reference is very low. Plan ahead: the decision to contribute little today shows up in the maternity cheque tomorrow.
✅ In summary
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The freelancer is entitled to the initial parental benefit, with a 6-month guarantee period of contributions and a regularised situation. You claim it within 6 months of the leave starting.
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You choose the duration: 120 days at 100% or 150 days at 80% of the reference remuneration (the first 42 days are the mother’s exclusive). Sharing with the other parent gives +30 days at a better rate: 150 days at 100%, or 180 days at 83% (or 90% if the other parent takes 60 consecutive days).
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With FIZ you keep your contributions and quarterly declaration up to date - and that base is what sets how much you’ll receive on leave. You reach parenthood with the guarantee period met, not finding out too late that you weren’t entitled. See the plans.
