Paternity leave is the time off from work that a father takes after the birth or adoption of a child, with corresponding employee benefits (“UC Baby”). This kind of leave is rarely paid by the governments or companies. Maternity leave is a common topic, but paternity leave often gets overlooked. Because of this, fathers seem to barely take any time off after the birth of their child. All studies about paternity leave show many benefits for the family, kids, and for the fathers themselves. Fathers should have paid paternity leave because it boosts family relationships, it can empower men as fathers, it gives fathers time for adjustment, and it boosts the economy.
Firstly, paternity leave boosts connection and communication between family members.
…show more content…
It is time we stop treating child care as a side issue or a women’s issue, and treat it like the priority that it is. Paternity leave is good for women's careers. “When childcare responsibilities fall exclusively on the mother, the effect is to reduce women’s wages. Time out of the labor force deprives women of experience and promotions. When men shoulder more of the childcare burden, the effect is lessened (“The Benefits of Paternity Leave”).” Paid family leave has become an important way to signal to employees that the company is invested in them. People feel their company is committed to them in the long term. Overall, paid family leave helps keep people in the workforce after they have children. “When more workers are able to take leave, they are more likely to choose to remain in the labor market. Paid parental leave is associated with higher employment in economies around the world (Covert)”.
Finally, paid paternity leave comes with a variety of benefits for companies, children, and families that cannot be gotten with paid maternity leave alone. As we can see, fathers should have paid paternity leave because it boosts family relationships, it can empower men as fathers, it gives fathers time for adjustment, and it boosts the economy. When fathers take paternity leave, it can lead to better outcomes for their children and the family as a
This policy allows working couples to choose how they balance their work and parenting commitment to their new baby. The first two weeks are reserved for the mother but the remaining fifty weeks can be shared between both parents (Glegg, Swinson, 2013).This will definitely give chance to fathers to bond with their infants on an equal footing with the mother. Sarkadi, et al (2007) also suggests that policies should be made that fathers of young children may choose to do part time jobs so they can have time with their
Paid maternity leave can increase female labor force participation by making it easier for women
Kaufman, Lyonette, and Crompton (2010) explain that in Britain, family leave is short and offers low income replacement; while in the United States, family leave applies to some fathers and is unpaid (p. 322). After researching, Kaufman, Lyonette, and Crompton (2010) find “British fathers benefit from a policy that provided one week paid leave in the recent past and currently offers two weeks (partially) paid leave. American fathers know less about family leave policy, and even for those who are aware of FMLA, they are aware that it is unpaid” (p. 336). Research also showed that British fathers took one week of paid leave. American fathers had to deal with unpaid leave and used vacation days to take time
a. According to Allen and others, when it comes to paid maternity leave, arguments for greater family supports are based on the perception that how accessible the supports are will result in reduced work-family conflict for employees (Allen et al. 2014).
Moreover, such rewards are sprinkled across a lifetime. It is the gift that keeps giving, as generation after generation reap the sweet fruit from the tender labor of one man. A man’s legacy is directly tied to the time, energy, love, and support he invests into active fatherhood. Additionally fatherhood has many benefits for men. When men become active fathers a transformation takes place. Some studies on human populations in China, the United States and the Philippines have found that involved dads have lower testosterone levels, which influence aggression levels and libido (Mitchell, 2013). This decrease in testosterone levels helps fathers to ‘slow down’ and enjoy taking care of their children.
Figure 1, shows the top countries in the world for maternity leave, with all offering over 50 weeks, and Serbia and Denmark at 100% of salary. In other countries both the amount of time and percentage of salary differs, but as Amanda Peterson Beadle points out in her article for the ThinkProgress website, ‘Out of 178 nations, the U.S. is one of three that does not offer paid maternity leave benefits, let alone paid leave for fathers’. (6)
In today’s society the dynamics of the family have changed drastically in the last 50 years, are the rules and laws for businesses and employers keeping up with the changes? Paternity leave is the time a father takes off work for the birth or adoption of a new child in the family. This kind of leave is rare and even rarer is paid paternity leave. A very few enlightened companies offer new dads time off from a few days to a few weeks, however, it still falls short of the 6 to 12 weeks women get for maternity leave. Finally, in 2004 California became the first state to offer what they call PFL or “Paid Family Leave”, allowing 6 weeks off with 55% of usual pay replaced up to $1,075 per week, this is a definite start. In most states, dads are forced to take their vacation time, sick days or unpaid leave from their jobs when their children are born. Yet women have received maternity leave for decades.(Weber and Lublin) Family leave is about treating people equally and not constraining them with gender roles and the social stigma that goes with it, when the man of the family is the main bread winner and the woman’s job is to take care of the children.
Do you think newborn children or newly adopted children should go without seeing their parents? No, that’s why men and women should get paid maternity/paternity leave. Men and women should get paid maternity/paternity because right now men and women only get up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave, they still need an income even though both the parents are at home, and the mother and the baby both need comfort after the child's birth.
Guaranteeing paid parental leave has numerous benefits. It would be able to help the economy prosper more and help set up the future. Paid parental leave would also be a step forward to stopping gender discrimination, especially in the workplace and in homes. Last but not least, it would help families have the opportunities to make sure their children are kept healthy. The parents would also have more chances at a healthier life. It is time to take a stand and join the rest of the world. America needs to step up to the plate and guarantee working families paid parental
Before enrolling in my first Communication studies course, I never heard of paternity leave, nor had the concept ever crossed my mind. On multiple occasions, I witnessed my mother take some form of occupational leave due to family matters, but never my father. This created a household dynamic that placed my mother as the primary care giver. The responsibilities associated with parenthood should never be left to one parent. This economically reinforces the idea that child care is exclusive to women. For this reason, family leave should be both available and required for male parents.
Maternity is a beautiful thing and it is known to be both a challenging and joyful time for women. When the baby is born it requires very much attention, but the mother needs just as much attention as the newborn, this is when men are needed at home. These days it is becoming more popular for fathers to want to have time to use towards their families, especially their children. Typically, state governments provide men with a short paternity leave, or none at all. This is an issue because if a man is trying to start a family and also searching for a job, he would want to work at a place that offers paid paternity leave, or really any kind of leave at all. Although parental leave is mostly associated with women, gender equality is rising and businesses and families should accept that men want to help out with
“Our country's parental leave policies are woefully behind the rest of the world, and today San Francisco has taken the lead in pushing for better family leave policies for our workers” (Wiener) . Parental leave is when the companies/ government pay a worker to spend time with their newborn in the family. Recently the United States was acknowledged to be the only country to not have mandatory parental leave for parents of newborns. This would be arguable for whether or not it should be allowed and enforced as a new law. Reasons for parental leave would be financial issue, bonding time and educational increases. The last topic talks about the issues and cons of having parental leave for mainly mothers. The employers in the United States
Kelly, Jon. "The Politics of Paternity Leave." BBC News. BBC, 26 Aug. 2010. Web. 01 Apr. 2014.
With parental leave fathers will help around the house and help with the child during their time off and they will keep helping long after returning to work. “When men increase their use of paternity leave, time studies show that the amount of household work fathers and mother perform may become more gender balanced over time, with the men spending longer amounts of time per day on household chores and childcare” (United States Department of Labor, 2015). Paternity leave makes fathers help around the house and be more a part of the family. With fathers helping around the house they give mothers less things to worry about and they will be able to recover faster because they will have time to rest. Paid parental leave will let fathers help mothers with childcare and the father will build a strong bond with their
My father took paternity leave with my mother for all four of his children. As a result, Jade was valedictorian, Noah is very smart and social, and Beaux performs well academically, and I am extremely social. Many occupations do not allow paternity leave for new fathers. Also, most new fathers choose to not take time off. If fathers do not take paternity leave it puts stress upon the mother, and not taking time off does not benefit the new child at all whatsoever. The mother just birthed a child and is incredibly sleep deprived. Mom needs a little help! Paternity Leave gives many benefits to the child as well as the mother. In my opinion, paternity leave is a very important part of a child’s life, and is just as important and mandatory as maternity leave!