The statutory maternity pay and leave are benefits provided by the social security, and they are part of the public policy for social security. They apply to pregnant women and working mothers because of motherhood, regard-less the fact that the motherhood is biological or adoptive. It so happens that the 120‑day‑period of maternity leave, without any loss to the job or wage, has been granted only in cases of biological parentage, and it has been granted split into parts to adoptive mothers according to the child's age. This article reports this evident inequality, and it is an important record of the performance and contribution of Social Work (specifically in its socio‑legal practice) to the protection and viability of two important social rights that are inseparable: the right to statutory maternity pay and leave for adoptive mothers (maternity protection) and the right to family and community life for children and adolescents (childhood protection).
Maternity leave; Adoption; Social Work