The Case for Longer Paternity Leave

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Every baby being given birth to needs a lot of attention and nurturing to give them the best upbringing they deserve. This cannot be done by the mother alone, so we have the father come in to play his role in the parenthood journey.

The arrival of a newborn child is a life-changing moment, not for the mother alone but for the father too. The early days of this development need teamwork and require both parents to be around in helping to care for the growth of the baby.

A woman who just delivered and had undergone such hard labour and pains would need a hand to support her so she doesn't feel overwhelmed with the whole responsibility so it doesn't affect her health. She needs time to relax and reduce the stress of doing it all at a time, this is why the husband would be of help to reduce the load on her.

It has been the norm that all pregnant and nursing mothers are given some right to take some time off their work to take care of themselves and their new baby/babies. The duration of a maternity leave for any pregnant woman is 52 weeks which is a year. 26 weeks of ordinary maternity and the other 26 weeks for additional maternity leave. This has been the order and rule of every company with which the woman works.

The male gender isn't left out of this entitlement too because as a father-to-be or one who has a pregnant woman around, he is to be given 2-3 weeks and this is only applicable for the employee's first 2 kids. This means, there wouldn't be any paternity leave after 2 kids.

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In my opinion, I feel the duration of this leave is too short to be given to a father who is supposed to be given ample time to stay with his wife and help take care of the kids.

The woman alone cannot shoulder all responsibilities except if they want her to collapse and get worn out. Being a mother of a newborn kid isn't easy to go through and so, a man is to be there till the wife can get back to herself and regain all lost energy and strength.

Both parents are to be present for their new babies and help them grow. Every step of the child should be something the man would be available to witness and not the woman alone.

A father's presence in the life of a new child means a lot rather than leaving the responsibility to the mother who would be choked up with multitasking and at the end of the day, her health is affected. This is what causes most mothers to feel stressed and develop kinds of psychological issues because there is no one to help them with the whole duties.

I believe organisations should be concerned about this aspect and give fathers enough time to perform their fatherly role with their kids. Even if they would have to work from home without having to show up at their offices while observing their leave, together with their wives.

This is why organisations and companies should hire enough staff so that while they are on leave, the position won't be left behind while someone else replaces them for the time being.

Children need more hands to take care of them as the work would be a whole lot on the mothers. It is not easy for a mother to have sleepless nights, trying to create time to recover fully then have to take care of the home and prepare meals for the husband, she would eventually get tired with everything.

But it becomes easier when there is another hand to join and support her. So, I believe paternity leave should be extended more than the normal 2-3 weeks because this duration of time isn't enough to help a woman.