Thursday, June 27, 2013

In doing my small part in trying to cause a paradigm shift, I've always said the father needs to do all he can to be more involved with the pregnency and childbirth. I've copied this from an Evisors e-mail I received. It gets to the point very well:

85% of new fathers in the U.S. take paternity leave but...

Up to 15% of U.S. firms now offer paid leave to men after the birth of their child. Yahoo offers 8 weeks off at full pay, Bank of America offers 12 weeks, and Ernst & Young gives 6 weeks. While the number of firms offering leave is encouraging, most men are still reluctant to take it. While 85% take some time off, the vast majority only take 1 or 2 weeks off. The main reasons men don't take more leave are fear of losing status at work and lingering stereotypes about a father's role in the family according to a survey from Society for Human Resource Management. The same survey documented long-term benefits of dads staying home after child birth, but until there's more social acceptance and encouragement, most men said they wouldn't take more than the typical 1-2 weeks. One thing that might help is senior executives taking such a leave themselves. Another study by search firm Korn/Ferry found that while 75% of male executives believed paternity leave is an important retention tool, only 15% reported taking such leave themselves. Today's stat is based on an excerpt from "Why Dads Don't Take Paternity Leave" from The Wall Street Journal.

So, the man should feel just fine about taking the time off. It is good in so many ways! I do know of some who take the time off and go golfing...nope, not the purpose. We need to crush the stereotypes.

SNAPP

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