If you’re an American, this article might raise some strong emotions. Paternity leave in the US can be a controversial topic for fathers who live in this part of the world. Even if it is 2024. We probably all know dads who gladly take as much time off as they can to help care for their partner and new baby. We also know men who would never dream of taking even a day off work for childcare reasons.
Why would someone not take paternity leave in the US if it’s offered? A few reasons.
3 Reasons Dads Don’t Take Paternity Leave in the US
- Tradition. For decades, American families have been assigning labor outside the home and inside the home mostly around gender lines.
- Some new dads are afraid of being stigmatized in their workplace and risk future opportunities for growth.
- According to the New York Times, fathers aren’t taking leave because it’s not fully paid.
Taking leave and the length of the leave is very dependent on the country you live in and the type of job you have. The United States is notorious for having poor leave policies compared to other rich, developed countries.
Most U.S. companies don’t offer paid paternity leave. It’s estimated about 40% of American companies do. However, businesses that offer these programs don’t employ a proportional amount of the workforce. Recent surveys show only 20% of private-sector employees had access to these benefits.
It’s true that parental leave policies seem to be on the rise over the last 10 years. However the US is far behind most other countries around the world. Additionally, black and Hispanic workers are seen to be less likely to receive paid leave.
The average amount of leave offered for non-birthing parents on average is about 4 weeks in the US.
What’s shocking is that 70% of fathers who do take paternity leave are back to work in ten days or less! They only take 37% of the time offered to them!
The reasons are what we mentioned above – tradition, stigma, and probably a fear of not making ends meet if you’re only getting paid a fraction of your original salary.
Benefits of New Dads Taking Paternity Leave in the US
There have been quite a few studies done on the effects of fathers taking leave or not taking leave when a baby comes. Don’t we wish this kind of research was more commonly shared and talked about!
- Longer paternity leaves are associated with increased engagement and bonding between the father and kid(s). In a study of working dads in the US, dads who took two or more weeks of leave were more likely to be actively involved in the child’s care long after the leave ended. “Actively involved” in this study meant they were still feeding, changing diapers, and getting up during the night.
- When fathers have longer and intentional engagement with their kids, it leads to better health and development outcomes for the kids! A study of four OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) countries – including the United States – found that longer paternity leaves and increased time fathers spent caring for young children is associated with higher test scores for their children.
- In families where the father takes more leave, there is more equitable sharing of chores and childcare between mothers and fathers.
- And to add to the previous one, obviously a more equitable arrangement of childcare and chores will normally allow a mom to take work outside the home. When dads take paternity leave, it can increase the employment rate and pay for moms.
A Look at Paternity Leave in Other Developed Countries
Lithuania, Japan, and Sweden are known to have the best paternity leave policies in the world.
Lithuania gives fathers 1 month of paternity leave paid at 77.58% of regular earnings. Additional shared parental leave with the mother is offered as well, up to 36 months total. This includes full pay for the first year and 70% salary for the remaining two years—paid through social security.
Japan offers a full year of paid parental leave. The first 6 months are paid at 67% of the employee’s regular salary and the remainder is paid at 50%. Pay is provided by the Japanese government.
Sweden gives both parents 480 days of shared leave with partial pay. Parents are encouraged to split leave days fairly equally. During leave, they are paid in tiers starting at 80% of the regular salary.
How to Normalize Longer Paternity Leaves in the US
The American workplace culture, and the norm of men and fathers being the “breadwinners” is a barrier for men to safely take generous paternity leaves.
We need to accept, protect and encourage fathers to take paternity leave. It starts with our policies at a national level and a company level. Fathers should feel secure and respected for taking care of their families in ways that aren’t purely financial. It’s better for them, their kids, and their partners. Research by Harrington suggests that mean who take paternity leave and an active role in family caregiving report greater levels of satisfaction with their jobs and careers. And happy employees means better performance and happy employers!
Lastly, even in the best parental leave policies around the world, the pay during leave is a percentage of the full salary. We need to be ok with that, as Americans, to make 70-75% of our income in order to take care of our families. Or we need to think about ways to increase the percentage to encourage more fathers to take it.