Access to paid leave for new fathers in the United States has always been very uncommon. Although most workers have no access to paid parental leave at all, more employers provide paid maternity leave (for mothers) than paid paternity leave (for fathers). According to Corina S. Schulze, Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science, “Federal policy (FMLA), grants women up to twelve weeks of unpaid leave and bars dismissal or demotion of women who, if eligible, choose to take it.” Allowing new mothers to take time off to care for newborns is a national interest in many countries, but the extent and character of the policy itself can vary. This means the fathers tend to have to take sick leave to have the same opportunity. It has been looked upon as wrong for fathers to take time off to take care of their children. It’s become so outlooked that employers don’t even offer it for the fathers, let alone listen when they ask for the time off. All but three states in the U.S. require that a puppy be at least eight weeks old before being taken away from their mother. Maine, Virginia, and Wisconsin mandate that a puppy be at least seven weeks old. For mothers, they can take no more than 6 paid weeks off of work to take care of a newborn. No time that is taken for “paternity leave” is actually considered paternity leave. As President Obama noted in the State of the Union when he called for national paid family leave, “We’re the only advanced country on Earth that doesn’t guarantee paid sick leave or paid maternity leave to our workers.” Which has made an upsetting difference in America.

It’s very concerning that fathers are not able to have the chance to be home with their newborn(s). A fathers bond with their kid is just as important as a mother’s. Having one without the other is looked down on and should try to be avoided. Every parent should want a strong bond with their child, especially when it’s what the newborn needs. Despite decades of progress in the workplace, women still have to take control of child-care. According to the Economist.com, most countries allow up to three months of maternity leave, only around half a dozen countries offer fathers more than two weeks paternity leave; having more than half the of that time unpaid.

Here at Lincoln Northeast male teachers and employees of LPS have to use their sick leave days just to go home to help take care of their newborns. Fathers are losing chances of a work day that would normally be bringing in money. I asked a classroom of 18 students and the outcome was 88.9% of the class agreed that the father should get paid paternity leave like mothers get paid maternity leave. Some say only if the father is an active caretaker and some said that every child needs to grow with their father too. According to a study in four countries, America, Australia, Britain and Denmark, fathers who had taken paternity leave were more likely to feed, dress, bathe and play with their child long after the period of leave had ended. Having both parents involved and active in the child’s growing is very important. Even then paternity leave for the father is good for the mothers career. When childcare falls only on the mother, the effect lowers women’s wages. Time out of the labor force takes them out of experience and promotions. When men carry more of the childcare burden, the effect is lessened and sometimes shared to make it not as extreme. The world we tend to live in requires full wages from 2 adults/parents to have a family prosper. So when the new parents are able to share the work and hardship of being new parents it becomes a very smooth ride.
Obviously there are tons of benefits to giving the Fathers their paid Paternity leave. But overall, paid family leave helps keeps fathers and even mothers in the workforce after they have children. When more workers are able to take leave, they’re more likely to stay in the labor market or their original place of work. It’s even been seen that paid parental leave is associated with higher employment in economies around the world.