Introduction
After childbirth, some fathers, especially those not in committed relationships, barely take time off work to care for their children. On the other hand, mothers are forced to take time off work before and after the mother delivers. Fathers barely get time off, and if allowed to get time off, they take a few weeks or days before returning to work. Therefore, mothers are left alone with the workload of taking care of the newborn, lagging in their careers, and having a chance of an unstable relationship. It is crucial that fathers take paternity leaves to share the responsibilities, connect more with their newborns, promote parental and workplace equality, promote family stability and get some time off work to recharge. The unpaid leave strains families’ finances, which would be avoided by not going for the leave, but the paternity leave benefits make it worth taking.
The United States of America is one of the many developed countries that barely support paid paternity leaves. This issue makes it hard to sustain the needed paternity leaves. Most families depend on the Family and Medical Leave Act, 1993, which allows families to take up to 12 weeks per year unpaid (Blum et al. 2). The authors note that the leave is “intended to enable the father to spend time with his partner, new child, and older children (Blum et al. 8). There are six states in the United States of America that enacted the paid paternity leave rule for fathers with newborn children. This act allows parents to take time off to be with their families, but it barely applies to all companies. Only companies with more than 50 employees are the ones that qualify to apply for this act. Therefore, not every working father can be able to take paternity leave. However, there is a need for paid paternity leaves in the United States of America to be a mandatory thing as it strengthens families and helps create a suitable workplace and household.
It Reduces Hiring and Workplace Inequality
One of the reasons for paternity leave is to reduce hiring imbalance and ensure pay equality in the workplace. According to Albiston and Lindsey, “many women lack job opportunities because of the thoughts that if they get pregnant, they can be liabilities; therefore, more men than women are hired” (2). For instance, a Human Resource manager can consider hiring a man or a woman, but choose to hire the man over the woman. A woman in her prime has the possibility of getting pregnant, taking some time off before childbirth, and after childbirth, she takes many other months to take care of the child. When the woman gets back to work, she would be required to leave work early, perhaps to take the child from daycare or school and take days off to look after the child herself.
On the other hand, a man would barely get pregnant, would not need time off to lactate the child, and seem more committed to work than women. However, introducing paternity leaves in workplaces show that men prioritize the child as much as women. It changes the whole perception of women as liabilities when they choose to prioritize their children, and everyone will be seen as an equal. Therefore, when hiring, a company with a paternity leave policy can acknowledge that men and women are equal if any of them would want to start or expand their families. Paternity leaves remove the childbirth phenomenon as an obstacle in the workplace, reducing the hiring imbalance.
Nonetheless, paternity leaves help reduce the motherhood penalty at work. Women get lower pay due to the fewer hours they work put after childbirth creating equality in the pay gap and workplace environment. Averagely, women across the United States of America face an 8.9% reduction in their salaries when they return to work after maternity leaves (Albinston and Lindsey 4). Additionally, the one in four women who return to work are either downgraded in their work position or required to work twice as hard as they used to compensate for the time they lost during their maternity leave (Albinston and Lindsey 4). This reduction in overworking is caused by the notion that childbirth is not as important as work for women.
On the other hand, men choose to continue being productive and competitive at work, which puts women in the limelight as people who choose to leave work to do a “less important” task of giving birth and taking care of the child. However, when men have paternity leaves, it would create the notion that they need to take time off work to take care of their children as it is essential as work. This new notion would reduce the motherhood penalty for working women and reduce the pay gap for women after maternity leaves.
It Promotes Equality in Parent Responsibility
Parenthood is challenging and needs the involvement of two people; thus, paternity leave is crucial in taking care of children. 50% of women who are working and lack their partner’s support after childbirth defer from returning to work due to the workload they have with their children (Albinston and Lindsey 4). Women require their partners to reduce the labor in taking care of the newborn. According to Petts and Knoestar, fathers who take long paternity leaves have more confidence as fathers than those who do not take paternity leaves (4). Confidence is crucial in the father’s involvement after childbirth and in for family stability. Various roles need attention after childbirth, such as constantly waking up at night to deafening wails of the child, changing diapers, feeding the child, entertaining them, and teaching them how to speak. Moreover, children need close attention, and every move must be monitored. Therefore, there is a need for fathers to be involved in sharing the responsibilities after childbirth.
It Increases Employee Satisfaction and Retention
Moreover, paternity leaves improve employee satisfaction and retention for fathers at their workplaces. According to Petts and Knoestar, “most men who take paternity leaves portray commitment behavior” even at work (5). Nonetheless, their workplace productivity increased by 40% (Petts and Knoestar 742). To most men, this is a time to move away from their hectic work life, relax at home and look after their families. The leave may seem like a drop of work responsibility for another responsibility, and it is a needed time to change environments and take care of themselves. Therefore, men can get back to work recharged and happy, ensuring customer retention.
Though some states enact paid paternity leaves, most companies barely offer the paid paternity leaves, which puts a strain on the families. Petts and Knoestar write, “socioeconomic status may shape the opportunities and barriers that men encounter when considering taking paternity leave” (8). Most families require every penny in their salaries to support their families. Others do not get when they leave work to take care of their children in those weeks. With neither parents working during those few weeks after childbirth and receiving fewer salaries, caregiving becomes an economic issue. This economic issue would lead to financial strains, borrowing of loans to sustain the family during that period, and selling of assets, which would lead to future financial problems. The unpaid or reduction in salary for paid leaves shows the lack of necessity for paternity leaves. However, the benefits of a paternity leave outweigh the negatives of having financial strains; thus, it is worth taking it.
Conclusion
Paternity leaves are crucial in strengthening family bonds and creating a favorable workplace environment, though it puts financial strains on the family. It reduces the hiring imbalance that derails women seeking job opportunities as women can no longer be a liability at work if men are taking the leaves. Additionally, in the workplace, women would face fewer penalties when they take leaves if men take the leaves too. Moreover, when fathers take leaves, they would be able to help their wives in caregiving, create a stable connection with their newborns, earn confidence in childcare, and help in forming a stable family relationship. Nonetheless, men who take the paternity leaves can recharge, and when they return to work, they become productive, which improves the company’s efficiency and employee satisfaction. However, those who get unpaid leaves suffer from financial strains, which make one question the need for paternity leave if it would lead the family into an economic struggle. The financial strains should not bar fathers from taking time off work to connect with their families. Instead, parents should navigate their time and financials to accommodate paternity leaves.
Works Cited
Albiston, Catherine, and Lindsey Trimble O’Connor. “Just leave.” Harv. Women’s LJ 39, 2016, Web.
Blum Sonja, Koslowski Alison, and Moss Peter. “International Review of Leave Policies and Research 2021.” Leave Network, Web.
Petts, Richard J., and Chris Knoester. “Paternity leave‐taking and father engagement.” Journal of Marriage and Family no. 80.5, 2018, pp 1144-1162, Web.