Paternity Leave: Why and how the U.S. can benefit from its universal application

1 Paternity Leave: why and how the U.S. can benefit from its universal implementation Paternity leave is a controversial issue in the U.S. due to obstacles to its universal adoption.

The benefit is granted to working expectant husbands, partners of pregnant women, surrogate fathers, or a person matched with a child for adoption to ensure that they have time to stay home and bond with the child and/or new child (Harrington et al., 2014). Paternity leave was introduced in reaction to the need for married men to have time with their newborns, just as women are given maternity leave to deliver and take care of their young ones (Moss, Duvander, & Koslowski, 2019). However, the introduction of paternity leave has raised concerns about its benefits to the country as a whole. Paternity would benefit the U.S. by promoting family bonds, child health and development, economic stability, and bridging gender inequalities in performing domestic chores.

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2 The duration between paternity leave and any other leave should be at least 12 months to protect the interest of the employers and the U.S. as a whole. The restriction is meant to ensure that paternity leave is not exploited to the detriment of the employer's productivity (Harrington et al., 2014). Employees can apply for paternity leave at the time when they know it is appropriate for them and the employer. It is also important to note that the number of paternity leaves one can take over a career should be limited to a specific number to avoid abuse of the benefit (Moss, Duvander, & Koslowski, 2019). Paternity leave should be designed so that once a person takes it, the annual work leave should be foregone for the affected year. The move is to ensure that the benefit does not work against the economy and services delivery at large.

Moreover, paternity leave should be paid up to encourage employees to take it. Unpaid paternity leave is avoided by employees who have to work to meet ends. Making it paid-up leave would make paternity leave attractive to young people who are otherwise losing interest in parenting. Few fathers use the guaranteed 12 weeks of unpaid family leave offered under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) (Sherwin, 2022). Those who take this leave also tend to take fewer days off than mothers, highlighting the disparities in the uptake of family leave. A universal paid paternity leave could help resolve this disparity by incentivizing fathers to take weeks off their work schedule to stay and bond with the newborns. According to Sherwin (2022), only 5 percent of fathers have ever taken paid family leave of at least two weeks. The low intake is attributed to a lack of pay for most of the leave days, discouraging the father from taking family leave. In a nutshell, paid-up paternal leave would encourage more fathers to apply for leave when they receive newborns.

Paid-up leave aims to protect the financial welfare of employees. Paid paternity leave would ensure that men remain financially stable during their leave days to benefit their families.

3 Taking care of the newborn is expensive, underscoring the importance of paying for paternity leave. The country's best interest is to have financially stable families (Adema, Clarke, & Frey, 2015). Economic instability is linked to dependence on the government's social programs, which burden the taxpayer. Parents from low-income households, mainly Black and Latin parents, are less likely to take leave for long if it is unpaid. Unpaid leaves favor the rich, contributing to disparities in the enjoyment of the benefit by employees from different economic classes.

Paternity leave should be available to all, regardless of their economic background (Harrington et al., 2014). In this respect, paid-up paternity leave is advisable to reduce the risk of more families sliding into dependence on government support to meet their basic needs.

Benefits Of Paternity Leave Paternity leave can benefit families by enhancing bonds between husband and wife and newborns. With the growing concern about parenting, particularly where children suffer from absent fathers, paternal leave would have held to bond the father and their children to benefit the child's growth and family stability (Sherwin, 2022). Before the introduction of paternity leave, women were often left alone to nurse their newborns as their husbands were busy working (Moss, Duvander, & Koslowski, 2019). Consequently, this negatively impacts the set standard towards the interaction of children and their parents as the father and child have limited interaction. Where paternity leave is not universal, fathers have been deprived of the opportunity to participate fully in their children's lives, particularly in the early stages.

Paternity leave would benefit the U.S. most by resolving the problem of an uneven division of household labor between married men and women. Unfortunately, the problem persists often persists beyond the infant stage to the detriment of women's interests (Sherwin, 2022). In a society still struggling with the gendering of roles and uneven development between men and

4 women, paternity leave is handy to try and resolve this issue (Moss, Duvander, & Koslowski, 2019). In addition, when men are granted paternity leave, they can help their wives to nurse the newborns and perform other domestic chores, easing the burden women often shoulder after giving birth.

Paternity leave would also change society's view of childbearing and raising to the benefit of parenting. The leave would underscore the value of parents participating in raising their children together. The time the man takes home on paternity leave is sufficient to reflect on his role in the child's development (Sherwin, 2022). The bonding strengthens a sense of responsibility and cares for the family; a factor needed to address the growing aloofness of fathers in raising their children. Lack of paternity leave has contributed to fathers focusing more on their jobs at the expense of family (OECD, 2014). It is imperative to note that family is the basic social unity, and its health impacts the general society.

Paternity leave would also encourage couples to have children and address the problem of declining birthrates that has led to overdependence on migrant labor. Low birthrates can affect the country’s labor supply in the future, hence a concern (Harrington et al., 2014). In addition, young people are facing challenges in establishing and maintaining families because they see raising children as an inconvenience. To address this challenge, universal paternity leave is required. Parents should feel the value of raising children rather than seeing it as a distraction from career development and economic growth.

Furthermore, paternity leave would benefit the country by improving outcomes for children. Children need to feel the love and care of both parents. This is not possible when one parent is absent in the early stages of life due to work-related duties. Early bonding is important to the child’s growth. Children who have enjoyed the presence and bonding with their parents at

5 the early stages of development tend to have fewer social problems (Sherwin, 2022). The sense of attachment strengthens family bonds, a sense of belonging, and assurance. Paternity leave gives the father the much-needed opportunity to establish important and lasting ties with their newborns. By caring for the newborn, a father improves children's developmental health.

Children's cognitive and mental health improves when they enjoy the presence of fathers in their early stages of development (Sherwin, 2022). Therefore, addressing mental and cognitive issues in children is an issue that the U.S. as a whole should delight in as part of improving public health.

Making paternity leave universal would make it a culture for men to join women on maternity leave, demystifying their role in child care. Devoid of paternal leave, men are influenced to believe that women have to take care of children as they engage in outdoor activities (OECD, 2014). The problem is exacerbated by most employers' view that maternity leave is more important than paternity leave (Sherwin, 2022). Universal paternity leave would help employers acknowledge the equal entitlement of women and men to family leave, leading to improvement in the father's contribution to childcare. The belief that the work of caring for a newborn is for mothers should be addressed from a multipronged approach, which considers the value of making paternal leave a requirement that every employer should fulfill without victimizing the beneficiary.

Paternity leave would also help reduce burnout among parenting fathers who struggle to balance their work and family responsibilities. Tension in balancing these responsibilities can adversely affect employee performance and family well-being (Harrington et al., 2014). A universal paid-up paternity leave could empower more dads to attain family and professional goals without compromising either (Moss, Duvander, & Koslowski, 2019). The risk of stress and

6 burnout for fathers with newborns is high, especially among low-income earners. Leave days would help them to tend to the need for parenting without divided attention.

Paternity leave can also be used to promote the retention of employees, especially father who is keen on performing their family responsibilities. Highly educated father prefers a paid-up parental leave, underpinning the need for universal paternity leave as an incentive to work for an employer for a long. Retention issues affect the productivity of organizations (Sherwin, 2022).

Fathers who cannot access paid paternity leave would opt out of employment to take care of the newborn before looking for employment again. In this respect, the employer would lose valuable human resources, impacting continuity and productivity.

In conclusion, there is a need for a paid paternity because it would benefit the U.S. by strengthening family bonds between fathers and children as well as their spouses; reducing workrelated burnout for parenting fathers; addressing disparities between men and women in performing domestic duties; and enhancing child health and development. In addition, paternity leaves benefit society by enhancing retention and career development. Couples would also be encouraged to have children, contributing to an improved birthrate and lowering the country's dependence on immigrant labor. Therefore, paternity leave is good for fathers, families, and the general society for the avalanche of benefits it offers, underlining the need to make it a universal requirement that all employers should meet.

7 References Adema, W., Clarke, C., & Frey, V. (2015). Paid Parental Leave: Lessons from OECD Countries and Selected U.S. States. OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/5jrqgvqqb4vb-en.

Harrington et al. (2014). The New Dad: Take Your Leave. Boston College Center for Work and Family. http://www.bc.edu/content/dam/files/centers/cwf/news/pdf/BCCWF%20The %20New%20Dad%202014%20FINAL.pd.

Moss, P., Duvander, A.E., & Koslowski, A.S. (2019). Parental leave and beyond: recent international developments, current issues, and future directions. Policy Press.

OECD (2014). Trends in Leave Entitlements Around Childbirth No. PF2.5. https://www.oecd.org/els/family/PF2_5_Trends_in_leave_entitlements_around_childbirth. pdf.

Sherwin, G. (2022). Why fathers should join the fight for universal paid leave. https://www.aclu.org/news/womens-rights/why-fathers-should-join-the-fight-for-universalpaid-leave.