Should men get paternity leave from work?

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  • Espressocycle
    Espressocycle Posts: 2,245 Member
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    Not only thatm, it sghould be required.
  • XFitMojoMom
    XFitMojoMom Posts: 3,255 Member
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    In canada you have 52 weeks of parentla leave

    18 must be taken by the mother (in my case as a surrogate mother)

    The rest can be taken by both parents or by the adoptive parents.

    I think my husband was eligible for 7 weeks paid (5 weeks covered by QIP, 2 weeks by employer).
    Should both parties be paid - not unless there was some kind of sickness of the child or birth mother that would require the father stay home.
  • rcc1988
    rcc1988 Posts: 125 Member
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    Yes, every parent deserves time with their new baby.
  • Judway
    Judway Posts: 246 Member
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    They already have that option here in Canaduh. Mat leave is 52 weeks paid (capped percentage of your prior income and your job must be held for you while you're gone. Men can take paternity leave but however many weeks they take is deducted from the mother's 52 weeks.

    I take it you meant Canada
  • k8blujay2
    k8blujay2 Posts: 4,941 Member
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    Wait? You mean they don't have that option? My husband had the same option as I did to use the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and take 6-12 weeks off, using sick, vacation, and/or unpaid time off.

    If your husbands don't have that same option, I sersiously would be taking it up with HR and any state representatives necessary.

    And yes, it would be nice to have a full 6-12 weeks paid across the board, but right now, this is what we got.
  • AllanMisner
    AllanMisner Posts: 4,140 Member
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    I think it makes sense for the man to be there the first week. Then I would consider taking six weeks after she has exhausted her maternity leave. Generally, that would give the child 18 weeks of having a parent around.

    *** Disclaimer***
    I won't be having any more kids, so this is just my opinion and won't be put in practice.
  • Rosered3333
    Rosered3333 Posts: 171 Member
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    My husband works at a hospital and he gets a month.
  • TiredOfBeingFAT130
    TiredOfBeingFAT130 Posts: 46
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    For sure. I had a terrible delivery and could barely walk for 3 weeks. My husband didn't get the time off. Good thing my Mom is a housewife and could drop everything and come stay with me!
  • blueimp
    blueimp Posts: 230 Member
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    FAmily Medical leave allows up to 16 weeks. Most often vacation/sick time accrued are used first the rest is leave without pay.
  • dyannajoy
    dyannajoy Posts: 466 Member
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    My partner works for the federal government in Canada and I am self-employed as a photographer and therefore do not pay into employment insurance and do not get "maternity leave". (I just work as much or as little as I want in the first year.) But since I don't take it my partner is eligible for the portion that is paternity leave and his work tops him up to what works out to be the same salary since the taxes are done differently. Therefore he was able to be home for 9 months with us and still fully paid. Maternity leave in the states is a joke and probably a good reason why breastfeeding rates are so abysmal there. Moms and babies need time together to bond. Strong families equal healthier children who become better members of society. Supporting families = building a better nation over time. The US really needs to examine their parental leave. They are only one of four countries in the entire world that doesn't mandate paid time off for new parents. Something needs to change there. I consider it a huge blessing how much time our family was able to be together. Being a parent to a newborn makes it very hard to wake up at 5 am (if you were sleeping at all) and drag your butt to an office. I doubt most people are very productive employees while parenting a 2 month old anyway!

    maternity leave IS a joke here..........as is leave for when a family member dies.........try taking time off if you have lost a child!! I absolutely agree with everything you say.......and it makes me very sad............our families, our children, suffer horribly, and most people do not even realize it....:cry:
  • morganhccstudent724
    morganhccstudent724 Posts: 1,261 Member
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    I think so...maybe not as long as a woman but some time is in order...
  • havingitall
    havingitall Posts: 3,728 Member
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    Here in Canada, a couple (if there is a couple) is given 12 months leave from work (with 80-85% pay covered by the federal government).

    How the heck did you get 80 - 85% covered by the government? Employment Insurance is not that high. The max you can get is just over $400 per week. That was not even 50% of my pay on mat leave
  • fj211
    fj211 Posts: 95
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    My husband rarely takes all his vacation time so when our son came, he was able to take several weeks off and then went back half days for a few weeks. It was a good thing, too, because I was very ill for the first 6 weeks and recovering from my c-section.
  • DaddyofMEA
    DaddyofMEA Posts: 71
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    Meh. Are you suggesting that the man would ACTUALLY help out during that time?!

    Don't paint us all with the same brush. You can talik to my wife about that. Now, I'm not saying I didn't create more work for her when she recovered but I did my damndest to take care of her and all 3 of our baby girls while she was healing.
  • Bronx_Montgomery
    Bronx_Montgomery Posts: 2,287 Member
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    I think men should get a time off every single month when its a TOM time. The stress from that at home and work its excruciating
  • Elizabeth_M
    Elizabeth_M Posts: 562 Member
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    well in Canada we are pretty lucky to get one year mat leave. Men can take parental leave as well - you have to split the time up with the mother. So she could have 6 months off and he could have 6 as well.
  • DanielleRN8
    DanielleRN8 Posts: 409
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    My husband was scheduled to take 2 weeks but since our son came 2 weeks early, he wound up getting a month. I think it was extremely helpful since I was breastfeeding and needed his help so I could get a random 1-2 hours of sleep every now and then. And I also didn't have to change diapers while he was there. :D
  • V44V
    V44V Posts: 366 Member
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    Meh. Are you suggesting that the man would ACTUALLY help out during that time?!

    Hmmm... I worked at home when my 1st arrived, I was there 24/7 for EIGHT months.

    In the UK SMP (Stat Maternity Pay) is 9 months paid and 3 months unpaid. SPP (Paternity Pay) was two weeks for the Father, IMO not worth taking if you were in a stable/reasonably well paid job, as it's a fraction of your wage.

    From April 2011 the leave is shared, so that if the Mother wants to return to work then the Father can use the remainder.
  • DanielleRN8
    DanielleRN8 Posts: 409
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    Meh. Are you suggesting that the man would ACTUALLY help out during that time?!

    Don't paint us all with the same brush. You can talik to my wife about that. Now, I'm not saying I didn't create more work for her when she recovered but I did my damndest to take care of her and all 3 of our baby girls while she was healing.

    Well said. I guess some men aren't very helpful during that stage as others...
  • ItsCasey
    ItsCasey Posts: 4,022 Member
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    They already have that option here in Canaduh. Mat leave is 52 weeks paid (capped percentage of your prior income and your job must be held for you while you're gone. Men can take paternity leave but however many weeks they take is deducted from the mother's 52 weeks.

    That's because yer a pack damn dirty commies!
    This is such an ignorant view of Canada. We are FAR from being commies, we just take better care of our people! We happen to value life, health, family, and education, and we all pay to have these supports. Jealous? You should be, because we have all this AND FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY!!!

    Hmmm, ask the business owners who have to pay for all this federal overreach how much freedom they have when they are required by law to give employees 52 weeks off AND hold their jobs because they chose to have a baby.

    I think a modest amount of paternity leave is a reasonable benefit for a company that seeks to attract and retain quality employees. I am not at all in favor of the government requiring it. That should be solely the decision of the person(s) who put everything on the line to build the business.

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