Paid Parental Leave In Australia

The differences between gender roles are not so apparent anymore. Men are not always the typical breadwinners and many women are not stay-at-home mothers. An article by Beaupré, Dryburgh, and Wendy (2010) described the transition that many men are going through. According to Beaupré, et al., (2010), fathers were once considered the forgotten parent. “Until recently studies on the family focused mainly on the mothers” (Beaupré, et al., 2010). Fortunately, both parents are now being focused on. Fathers today are much more involved in the pregnancy and birth of their child and their child’s life in general (Beaupré, et al., 2010). Beaupré, et al., (2010) explained that women’s involvement in the labour force could be a factor to this change. Women are more educated than they were in previous years. And while women want to work more, men want to be more involved in their children’s lives (Beaupré, et al., 2010). Fatherhood is occurring later in adulthood. Research stated that the majority of men are very satisfied with their involvement in their children’s lives. (Beaupré, et al., 2010).

Only 9% percent of American companies offer paid paternity leave for all their employees (Ramnarace,). Since Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) are underpaid, it is very hard for fathers to be able to take a long absence from work and not be paid for the time off. 86 percent of men said they would not take a paid leave unless they made at least 70 percent of their current salary (Ramnarace,). There are 79 countries that have laws that require companies to offer paternity leave for fathers. There are 29 countries in Africa, 7 in Asia, 5 in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, 12 in Lain America, 2 in the Middle East, and 24 in the Developed Economies (Ramnarace,). The United States is still behind by only having 4 states that have adopted the new laws allowing fathers a leave of absence from work with some sort of pay. While the current family leave law allows for 12 work weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave in a 12-month period, I believe the law should be expanded worldwide to allow paid leave for all fathers without using their accumulated paid leave credits (Parental).

Fathers should be given maternity leave to form important bonds with their new child which will positively affect the child's life. There are many instances where fathers have needed to prioritize work to provide financially for their family but where not given an antiquate amount of time to nurture their child emotionally. By giving fathers maternity leave, they have the opportunity to connect with their infant during their child's earliest developmental stage. Many babies are skeptical of their fathers and may cry when approached by them due to not forming a close bond with them in the womb, as they did with their mothers. If fathers were to be given

Research from Israel shows that when more time is given off to new fathers, the more their brain changes to better suit them to be a parent (Thompson). Being around the new child and caring for them allows the father to share responsibilities that a baby brings along. Having time to dedicate solely to the child gives the father the ability to bond with their baby. A study by two Columbia University professors discovered that fathers who are given time off (two or more weeks) are more involved with their child’s lives in nine months, proving that better parental relationships come from paid paternity leave (“Columbia News”). Paternity leave also creates a foundation of trust between father and child, and relieves the pressure put on mothers. When fathers are around immediately after the baby is born, mothers are not forced to do all the work around the house while caring for a newborn. The two-week (or more) time frame when fathers are around would allow for a period where both parents can get settled and adapt to taking care of the child. In Sweden, to qualify for government benefits, the father is required to take off two months from work before the child becomes eight years old. More research has proven that for every month that fathers took leave to take care of their child, the income of mothers increased about 7% (Johansson, Elly-Ann). Thus, paternity leave not only benefits the newborn child, but also mothers. This paid leave can give new parents the ability to get to know their child and adapt to the new responsibilities. There are a multitude of countries that provide paid paternity leave, and the United States is one of nine counties who does not have this option. There is no reason that fathers should not have an allotted time to spend at home with their child and spouse, and so this country should mandate the option of giving paid paternity

Since women’s acceptance in the labour market the typical Australian family being ‘male breadwinner’ have been replaced by ‘dual income’ families where one partner works full-time while the other works part-time (Chesters 2011). As a result, there was an adjustment in the division of domestic labour where it became more equal as couples divide their time between paid and unpaid work (Chesters 2013). According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS 2009) gender roles in housework became more flexible whilst women participate in paid employment. Men would spend more time doing ‘core female’ domestic activities such as cooking and laundry and less time on outdoor activities such as home maintenance and lawn mowing (ABS 2009). In addition, men take on a greater role with regard to childcare where they spend more of their care time on play activities, these activities are normally done the same time as other activities (ABS 2009). However, some research has found that the ‘more dependent husbands are on their wives for income the less housework’ they would do in order to protect their masculinity (Baxter, Hewitt & Western 2009). Although there is hardly any difference in time spend on household work between full-time and part-time employed men it is is evident unemployed men spend only between 4 and 5 hours more doing housework as

Pregnancy and early child development is a fundamental aspect of human society, and is pertinent to the development of a successfully functioning community. The developmental and social progress of any civilization relies on children, as they will compose the future working population. Therefore, a mother or father’s involvement in the child’s development is of extreme importance, which is why family leave has been implemented all over the world. Family leave refers to the period of time granted to the employee to care for their newborn child. As communities evolve economically, financial stability is necessary, for what is perceived to be socially successful for a child’s development, which is why paid family leave is popular throughout the world’s nations. However, ABC News reports that “the U.S. is only one of three countries in the world that don't offer paid maternity leave” (Kim, 2015); the same is true for paternity leave. The United States government has an interesting track record dealing with family leave, but in order to analyze what the US government and advocacy groups have done to solve this issue, there first needs to be an understanding on why this issue is so difficult to resolve. The arguments that support and oppose paid family leave in the United States are equally valid, therefore causing a stalemate in the attempted policy making of legislative bodies.

Many believe that the success of a functioning community can be measured by the development of the youth, with the assumption that they would progress society as the future generation. Today’s children are tomorrow’s working class and the main contributors of social progress. Thus, the developmental stages in a child’s life is pertinent to success of a community, and in these stages parental involvement is a necessary component, which is why Family Leave is a policy implemented worldwide. Policy regarding family leave refers to the leave granted to employees in order to care for their newborn child. All countries, with the exception of two, have gone a step further by requiring employers to partially or fully compensate employees during family

Recently women’s rights and women’s equality in the workplace has come back to the fore as a topic for discussion in government agencies and the United Nations. Whilst this is a very important topic, when it comes to time off from work when a new child is born, women in the US have some provision, whereas men have none.

The U.S. has recently became the only industrialized nation not to mandate paid leave for mothers of newborns when Australia - the only other developed country that didn’t have a paid paternal policy - just passed a parental leave law in 2010. Most of the rest of the world has paid maternity leave policies, too. Papua New Guinea – a developing country – is the only other country that does not. Additionally, several countries in Europe give new fathers paid time off as well or allow parents to share paid leave i.e. Sweden (huffingtonpost.com).

Paternity leave should be a right for all male workers for two weeks. Paternity leave is a period of absence from work granted to a father after or shortly before the birth of his child. Usually, pregnant women who are nearly due for delivery are able to take parental leave from their employment, what about men? Shouldn’t they have the ability to go on leave for the birth of their children? Paternity leave should be granted for male workers for many reasons. This essay will consider some of those reasons, such as if the partner is not well after the birth of the child, needs care and supervision or if she is going through tough pregnancy and needs her male partner to assist her delivering their child. It is also important for an infant-father bonding as much as an infant-mother bonding after the child is born. Also if a horrible circumstance occurs like mother passing away during her delivery, that would leave the father as the first and only carer.

In some instances, one salary may not be sufficient to maintain the family needs. When a woman takes up maternity leave depending on the circumstance, her spouse may want to be there to assist. In taking up paternity leave the father can be present to lend his support in one way or another. Taking time off from work to be at home with the family for a few weeks does not take away a man’s role in the family. Fathers play an important role in child-rearing. A man who loves his family and has family values would see no fault in staying at home for a few weeks to lend support and assist his spouse with little things like change diapers, give baths, make meals and clean the house. While the “rest of the men” are doing “stuff”, men who are confident and value their family do “stuff” with them.

When a baby is born, there is a six week to six month period where forming a bond with your child is very important. During this period, having both parents present can help the child set a certain routine, and can also help the parents adjust to the new life and lifestyles needed to take care of a newborn child. There is a high value of having both parents by the child’s side at this time. It can make a significant difference in how the child is raised, and how the child feels about their own life. The bond that you create in those six weeks is very important to uphold, and can even make families stronger. Pregnancy is known to be a challenging and joyful condition for majority of men, and even new fathers as well. Governments all around the world support young mothers by providing them paid vacations, or maternity leave from work. Unfortunately, maternity and paternity leave is not paid in the United States. After childbirth, women require as much attention as newborns. This is why men are most needed after birth. Fathers would like to have time to dedicate to their family and especially their new baby. Typically, governments provide men with a short unpaid paternity leave, or even none at all. This is a drawback of national healthcare policies that needs to be eliminated. When you add a new member to a family, there are many bills that need to be paid. Babies are very expensive to have and care for. This is why I think that fathers should receive paid paternity leave.

A work-life balance is important in Sweden, and this balance ideal is a huge factor in making it one of the world’s top gender equal countries. Ranking at number four in the 2014 Global Gender Gap report, which measures equality in economics, politics, education and health, it is safe to say equality of the sexes is a norm that is promoted (“The Gender Gap, 2014). This equality is also an important factor in the balance of home and work life. This balance is encouraged through an extensive welfare system, creating many parent-friendly regulations (Swedish Institute, 2015b). Paid parental leave is permitted for 480 days when a child is born or adopted. This is available to be shared between parents and is able to be taken by the hour, day, week, or month. While it is becoming more common for males to take off parental leave, it is still usually mothers who take more. On average, fathers take about one-fourth of the parental leave time. Adopted parents are

The article, “Without Taking Away Her Leave”: A Canadian Case Study of Couples Decisions on Father’s Use of Parental Leave” explains, “More than one in four Canadian fathers now takes some paid leave at the birth of a child.” While this certain explanation is shown in a positive perspective, more fathers in the workplace should be taking hefty advantage of paid parental leave particularly to form the bond in the first six weeks. While in countries like Canada in the province of Quebec, paternity leave is more accepted by men than it is in countries like the United States. In the United States it is more likely for a father not to take any time off after his child is born. One might argue that taking too much time off after the birth of a child might take away opportunities in the workplace, but because paternity leave is becoming more accepted, it will be normal for a man to take time off. It is likely that they will have to use vacation time which might leave room for not being able to call off for an emergency. In most cases, taking twelve weeks unpaid could really hurt a family. That is why those first six weeks should be paid for. The idea

Fathers and mothers in households today continue to partake in a gendered, asymmetrical division of labour. Mothers still contribute more to household labour even though today’s father contribute more than fathers of the past. The discrepancy is because gendered norms to do with paid and unpaid work continue to prevail in both policy and social attitudes. The patriarchal power structure of households is linked back to the nuclear family being idyllic with mothers completing all unpaid labour and fathers providing in the financial sense. Since the 1970s, Western society has moved away from the nuclear family structure with rigidly gendered roles toward an egalitarian household set up. Part of this shift was women moving into paid work and another part was men slightly increasing their contribution to unpaid labour in the household. Despite the increase labour women contribute to provide financially for the household, splitting that burden with their husbands, men have not increased their contributions to household duties to the same extent. Newer representations of father’s contributions to childcare and housework are idealisations not actual representations of experience. These representations, again, positively impact men while co-currently women are vilified for not finding the right work-life balance.