Paternity Leave and Men's Right - Essay Example

Paternity leave Congratulations on the birth of your baby boy. Are you going to take some time off to spend it with your newborn son? A question the response to which is not exactly as simple as it appears. Regardless of having a paternity leave provision on the organization's agreement, numerous fathers still don't settle on it with the dread of being judged by the others or upsetting the employers of the companies. Also due to the preconceived notion that a father's activity in paid work is esteemed more than their involvement in childcare, many fathers tend not to opt for the paternity leave. The root cause of discouragement does not only stem from these issues but also due to the policies where a mother is given a more generously compensated maternity leave than a paid-paternity leave to the father. In the article "Paid leave for fathers, too, please", the authors talk about how paid paternity leave is still not addressed on a larger scale, "of parents taking leave in 2012, only 13 percent of men received pay while away from work, compared to 21 percent of women" (Reeves and Krause). In another article, “The importance of father child bonding” the author emphasizes on the importance of paternity leave and how despite the available opportunity, men tend to miss out on this opportunity as he states that “statutory leave which intended to empower new fathers to take a more noteworthy offer of childcare but despite this, only one in hundred men took up this opportunity” (Kemp). Instances like these beg the question: Should men be encouraged to take paternity leave? Although it is considered a social stigma and that it only upsets the company but taking paternity leave is essential for men as it increases their participation in childcare, reduces the burden on their wives and offers men a chance to learn from feminism. Before establishing the argument, it is necessary to understand what paternity leave means and how the countries around the world are dealing with it. According to the book "Maternity and paternity at work", Paternity leave is a brief time of leave given specifically to men right after the birth of their child. Its point is to empower fathers to help the mother to recuperate from labor and to bond with the newborn child (ETAL). A research done by "OECD - Social Policy Division" shows the apparent discrimination between the maternity leave and the paternity leave (OECD). According to this research; on average across OECD countries, countries part of "Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)" including USA and Canada, mothers are given about 18 weeks of paid maternity leave around labor. In almost all of the OECD countries, maternity leave is paid. Paid leaves particular to or saved for fathers have a tendency to be far shorter than paid leaves accessible to mothers. On average many of the OECD countries do not give paid paternity leave to fathers as opposed to the mothers. However, there are few countries like Finland, Bulgaria and some of the East Asian countries that do have policies of paid paternity leave for example Japan and Korea gives paid paternity leaves that stretches up to a year. In a few countries, societal standards and culture may go about as a viable obstruction preventing and discouraging men to take paternity leave, for instance, and as addressed above, Japan offers a great degree liberal paid father-particular leave qualification, however just around 2% of the employed new fathers take up this opportunity (OECD - Social Policy Division). This shows how due to societal pressure and lack of encouragement, fathers tend to miss out on this opportunity. Apart from societal pressure, men likewise feel that by taking paternity leave their bosses would consider them to be non-serious thus from the dread of disquieting them, they don't request the leave. Taking paternity leave is essential for men as it increases their participation in childcare. Paternity leave is not only beneficial for fathers, yet additionally for kids as well. Daniella Miletic, in his article "Paternity leave delivers dad a hands-on benefit", states that as indicated by a study "fathers who take a long stretch of leave (two weeks or more) after a birth are more likely to engage in early child-caring tasks such as feeding and reading bedtime stories than fathers who do not take time off" (Miletic). Not only that but those men who are involved in early stages of a child’s life are also likely to get involved in their lives ahead. The study, likewise found that “those kids performed better in their initial years at school, had greater cognitive development and better school availability” (Miletic). The realization of the fact that a child requires attention from not only the mother but equally from father as well is instilled in men when they take paternity leave. They learn the art of parenting and untap the parts of their personalities that they did not realize were there. "Once a man becomes a father, his everyday experiences with his child, as well as with the child's mother, are likely to influence his broader sentiments about what it means to be a father" (Marsiglio). Often fathers have to catch-up with parenting so by taking paternity leave they are quick to understand the nature of their child and they gain confidence in their child-rearing abilities. They do not have to rely on their wives for carrying out the responsibility of raising and looking after the needs of the child. Increased involvement in a child’s life serves to benefit the father’s mental health as well as the child’s. “Fathers who play with their children from the very first moment not just help boost their child's physical and mental advancement essentially more than the individuals who don't participate but also suffer from less stress” (Kemp). Taking up the role of being a father, particularly those who show more interest in their children, is a life changing experience. This change has a huge influence on the way a father deals and cooperate with his kids out in the public as well. The increased involvement of men enables them to learn and become more aware of their child's emotional and practical requirements. By getting more involved in the child's life, the father is also able to empathize with other parents and have better tolerance level than those without children. William Marsiglio is his research article "Men's Relations with Kids" talks about how fathers involved in their children's life are more understanding of other parents. "This trait enables them to handle the interpersonal dynamics that can emerge between parents, kids and adults who care for the kids" (Marsiglio). Moreover, fathers who tend to be involved in early stages of their child's life have a positive impact on their further development. Those children performed better at school, got arrested less, got into trouble less, and had better mental health. The involvement of father in childcare serves to be not only beneficial for the child alone but for the whole society as they tend to raise humane and respectable people. Melanie Mallers, a professor in “psychology at the California State University” states how "Fathers play a hugely important role in the mental health of their children much later in life" (Mallers). The way a father interacts with the child is in its way unique and is necessary for the betterment of the child. It enhances men’s ability to understand and bond with the child so therefore men should be encouraged to take paternity leave. Paternity leave also offers a break to mothers from all the complications and stress involved in the early stages of childcare and encourages them to resume their jobs. When fathers step in, the childcare responsibility is being shared which removes the burden from a mother's shoulder. The fathers take up the childcare activities such as changing diapers, feeding the baby and putting them to sleep. Parental leave has been taken for the most part by mothers, the division of childcare and homework in families has stayed unequal and women's situation in the workplace is not equivalent to that of men. Even today, when women and men go for a job interview, the questions concerning children and childcare are mainly understood as problems regarding women and not the men. The chance to encounter the change to parenthood liberated of the requests and requirements of work gives fathers the space to build up a feeling of obligation that is frequently situated as a center component of mothering. Erin M. Rehele in his journal article "When dad stays home too" states that “when fathers take up paternity leave they come to think about and enact parenting in ways that are similar to mothers” (Rehele). Working mothers, after taking maternity leave, often do not return back to their work-place due to the burden of childcare. Pressure from society also plays a major role as childcare is considered a mother's job and not of the father. Apart from that, the book "Maternity and Paternity at work" describes the discrimination females feel in their work place due to pregnancy and maternity. "In the United Kingdom, an investigation by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) reported that around 7 percent of pregnant women lose their jobs due to pregnancy and many are pressurized to leave their jobs" (ETAL). Moreover, when fathers take paternity leave it also embodies gender equality. A working mother is considered to have two roles, one being a mother and the other being and employee and it becomes very hectic to carry out both roles smoothly. It is necessary for a father to realize that his role in childcare is as important as his role in his work-place. Father's involvement enables the mothers to focus on their work and provide them with some time to relax. It also helps father to learn parenting from the start without having to depend on their wives for looking after the needs of the child. Even from an economic point of view, paternity leave benefits the economy. Due to the burden and duty of childcare, women are forced out of workplace which seriously affects their wages and experience to advance in their careers but when men step in to share the burden, this affect is minimized (Economist). For a considerable length of time, the solution to enhance and improve women’s position in their workplace was to increase the provision for the maternity leave period but now more governments are beginning to see that an effective approach to enhancing women's career is switching to fathers by offering them paid paternity leaves. "A husband who can take paternity leave means a wife who doesn’t have to shortchange her career, which means more stable finances. Women who lean in give men the option to lean out and vice-versa" (Poniewozik). Paternity leave helps change the perception of fathers as Herb scribner in his article states that "paternity leave will actually offer men a chance to learn from feminism, relieving dads from having to stick to the stereotypes that culture has often associated them with-being uncaring and not as dedicated to the kids as mothers" (Scribner). Paternity leave enables father to construct a positive identity where they come to the realization that fatherhood is as important as motherhood. The society that we live in, a father is consider as a provider, someone who is there to satisfy the financial need of the family and a mother is considered to be the one looking after the child. Perhaps one of the most unavoidable factor is the customary view that women are characteristically more qualified for the part of child raising but apart from breastfeeding, there does not seem to be any logical reasoning behind why fathers are similarly not ready to accept accountability for the domestic work such as raising a child. In the book "The Motherhood Manifesto", a father's perspective is shown as stated "Even when both parents work similar hours, the cultural myth persists that moms know how to care for children, and dads do not" (Blades and Finkbeiner). It helps haul them out of the outlook of approaching their significant other for everything and encourage them to rely on their own intuition of how to look after and raise the child. Paternity leave also has a major influence on the way men raise their sons and daughters. Traditionally, men raise their sons to be breadwinners of the family and daughters as mothers and housekeepers but when men take paternity leave it changes their perception in this regard as well. "Men who do become involved in childcare may be different and also be changed by the experience, resulting in nondifferentiated behavior toward sons and daughters" (Radin). The daughters gain more confidence in their later lives as their fathers tend to support them equally in their careers as they do with their sons. Radhika Sanghani in her article also stresses upon the importance of a father's role in household which plays a vital role in formulating a daughter's perspective of her career. She states that " the strongest predictor of daughters' own professional ambitions was their fathers' approach to household chores" (Sanghani) Moreover, men come to the realization that fatherhood is equally important as their careers and that they should invest equal, if not more, time with their children as well. However, critics argue that men do not deserve paternity leave as it is the mother who carried the baby for nine months and that she is capable of looking after the child herself. Carrying the child physically and mentally affects the mothers and hence they require the leave not the men. Traditionally, father's role in workplace is valued more than their role in childcare and because that is what their main objective is: to satisfy the financial needs of the family. Not only has this but if organizations were compelled to give paternity leave to both the parents for a considerable length of time at once, it would genuinely harmed the economy and all organizations. The harm to the economy is more than the need for men to be at home with the mother dealing with the child. Men can simply observe and communicate with their children after work and on the ends of the week, there is basically no compelling reason to pay two individuals for a considerable length of time at once, so they can bring up their kids. If a couple is really eager to spend time with their new-born then they should do some prior saving. It is not the weight of the business to subsidize them two. Some fathers may also end up misusing their paternity leave for personal gains so should not be allowed. On the contrary, the reason why men deserve to get paternity leave and should be encouraged to do so is because every parent needs to witness their child's first steps and hear the baby’s first words. Also, the mothers are exhausted after giving birth to the child and so men should take paternity leave in order to look after both his wife and the child. Paternity leave also helps to fortify men's sense of responsibility towards their children and promotes family harmony. The foundation of equivalent association and the men's increased inclusion in family undertakings can lessen the burden on women and promote a healthy relationship. The claim formulated by the critics that paternity leave upsets the companies is nullified by the reports of the surveys that show how paternity leave does not harm the companies. "A study done by the Center for Economic and Policy Research found that an overwhelming majority of California business owners surveyed said it did not affect their company’s performance or profitability" (Dishman). Many reported a positive impact as when fathers returned from the leave, they were more productive as they had the time to relax and so worked over-time too. Now the question of who is eligible for paternity leave is addressed in the contracts of the companies. "Employee should have worked for his employer continuously for at least 26 weeks by the end of the ‘qualifying week’ (the 15th week before the baby is due) " (Paternity pay and leave). Men should be encouraged to take paternity leave as it serves to be beneficial for the whole family. Paternity leave enhances the father-child bond and enables the father to gain confidence. It encourages the father to trust his own intuition on how to raise the child instead of relying on his wife. By getting more involved in the child's early life, fathers are able to understand their kids more and it serves to have a huge positive impact on the child's life ahead. The kids with exceptionally included fathers have a tendency to improve the situation at cognitive test scores and tend to be more productive in their lives. Moreover, it helps reduce the burden on their wives which encourages them to resume their jobs and to take a break from all the complications involved in early stages of childcare. This improves the position of women in workplace as it enables them to advance in their fields by not allowing childcare act as a hindrance. The work-place needs to identify and recognize the importance of men as fathers by encouraging them to take paternity leave. It epitomizes gender fairness and influence men to understand that fatherhood is not any less vital than motherhood and that their part in childcare is equally required. Finally, paternity leave helps change the perception of fathers by enabling them to learn from feminism. It frees them from the norms set by the society that childcare is not the job of the father and that their participation in paid employment is valued more than in childcare. Paternity leave should be men's right and no company should take that away from them. Word count: 2982 Work Cited Addati, Laura, Naomi Cassirer and Katherine Gilchrist. Maternity and Paternity at Work: Law and Practice across the World. International Labour Office. pp. 52–59. 2014. 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