Should Men Get Paternity Leave?

Definitely…

A couple of countries in Europe have paternity leave, Sweden has 16 months with 2 months having to go to the other parent (usually father), Norway and Estonia have plans for it too… If I remember correctly from what we discussed in class, it was partly to stop women from having to leave the job market, and encourage them to have kids (seeing as how a lot of countries have a negative growth rate). Women earn a lot less than men in the states, and most of that is the difference between mothers and men… It would be one step towards equality…

I agree they should. Two days is nothing. The birth of a baby is just as much about the father as the mother, just because she’s the one giving birth doesn’t mean the father shouldn’t take a few days of to help mother to recover and to spend quality time with the newborn

I think so, every father should be able be with their wife and son/daughter. Definitely a special moment that happens once in a life time.

exactly, the dad is gonna be inthe kids life as much as the mum, so yeah, 2 days is nothing, the birth of your child is something that you have to be there for.

Add this to the enormous list of things that France in particular and Europe in general has over the US. In France, mothers get 16 weeks paid leave, fathers 15 days paid leave, and employers are required to give up to two years unpaid leave if it’s requested.

Free health care, over a month of average paid vacation days, paternal leave, and a refreshing lack of rednecks = France #1!

@ mikeh in france and england its 6 months paid leave and then one year unpaid… you get free nannys in france as well who comes round 2 or 3 times a week to help the mother O_o

yeah so the fathers should get about 2 - 4 weeks of paid leave because of the baby, the family should be settled in first before anything else is done…

the US sux (sorry but its true) so many things that are done badly…tsk tsk…

I agree - I was pissed off.

My fiance had 2 days off work - unpaid. He didn’t even get to stay the last night in the hospital with me because I was in labor for so long. He also didn’t get to stay home after he was born to help me or to spend time with his new son. It was very frustrating.

Yes, men deffinitly should have a paternity leave. Thats familly stuff… big stuff.. he cant work in a situation like that …

ty makes a very good point. Europe has an aging population and a birth rate considerably lower than the US, and falling in some places. Several governments (Germany and France for example) are trying to encourage families to have more children, and these benefits are part of that. France’s birthrate is slightly below the population replacement level, and Germany’s is even worse.

But, regardless of the intent of the law, the benefits are there. I do agree that there should be paternity leave. In Germany, a mother can share her 12 months of partial-pay leave with the father.

my husband got two weeks off with our first one but he is in the navy I am pregnant again and he is getting 3 weeks off this time but it still isnt enough I had a c-section the first time and am again this time it takes about 3 months to feel no pain at all so it was really hard on me for along time

Paternity Leave should be granted as a deduction from Sick Leave and/or Vacation Leave. It should not be an additional “Leave” benefit.

        Simply a Rose to brighten your day,         And maybe lessen the cares in your way;         And also, too, to help you to know,         That in knowing you, many others grow!

yes a man should. because they need to help their partener look after their newborn child. I am astonished that they only gave him 2 days off! for gods sake, you’ve just given birth!

I think that men SHOULD get a longer paternity leave. I don’t think that these jobs are considering the fact that these men have new children and should be able to spend time with them and to help the mother who just had the baby. I wasn’t aware that other men get such a short paternity leave because I had a teacher that had a new son, but he got two weeks paternity leave.

I think they should at least get a week. My husband and I are having are second baby within the next 4 weeks and I was like do you get time off because I am going to need help with are son with the new baby coming. His boss agreed to give him the week off so I think it’s fair just ask ahead of time and explain the situation!

luckily my husband is military so he gets 15 days off.

I would die if they didnt let him stay. I dont have any close riends here since we are so far from home