Lorraine Courtney
We need to make paternal leave more attractive to new parents
SINCE September 2016, every employer in Ireland must offer new dads two weeks’ paternity leave following the birth of a child. And while it’s nice to have a law that says you can’t be fired just because you need to take time off to care for your new baby, it appears that most families can’t afford to go two whole weeks without proper pay.
Figures show that 20,375 men took up the option to take two weeks’ paternity leave in the scheme’s first 11 months. That is a rate of around 34pc, not exactly a success by anyone’s measure.
But should we really be surprised? Does this prove feminists are wrong – that real men just want to get back to the office as fast as possible? Study after study finds an unfair division of housework and caring between men and women. But men are being set up as secondary parents from the start, thanks to a gendered imbalance in parental leave. Now we know that the moment when men are supposed to be learning how to parent, they are forced back to work to provide instead.
Research suggests that young dads do in fact want to take time off and be more active participants in caregiving. The lack of take-up on paternal leave is probably not for a lack of interest from the men themselves, the biggest reason men give for not taking the leave is that they can’t afford to. It’s financially unworkable for most couples – €230 for the two weeks at a costly time in a young family’s life.
A right to something you can’t afford to take is worse than useless. Offering a payment so low ensures that few workers will find the payment adequate for the time they lose from work. Having a child is the most expensive thing you can do. What use is low-paid leave to anyone when you have to fork out extra money for things like prams, cots, clothes and nappies? For those used to a higher income, the mortgage and bills will still have to be paid. The Government is out of touch with the reality of workers’ lives if they think workers can survive without their normal wages.
How about we base paternity leave on previous PRSI payments and income? Other countries manage this. Compare Ireland with Sweden where parents can take up to 16 months of leave, paid up to 80pc of salary (with a cap of €4,000 per month). In Spain, dads get two weeks’ leave, but it’s paid at 100pc of salary (up to a ceiling), making it easier financially for employees.
Public sector workers have full wages paid while taking paternity leave, in line with the policy for female employees on maternity leave. But the public sector accounts for only 18pc of all jobs. Only a fraction of other workers can expect
to have their benefit payment topped up and not always to their full wage. Irish employers should be topping up new dads’ wages if they’re interested in signalling a commitment to equality in their workplace.
Two weeks’ paternal leave is a start, but we need to make this scheme more attractive to new parents, and we need properly paid shared parental leave.
The option of a €230 payment to ensure that in a child’s lifetime he will get to spend two weeks more with his father than otherwise is pitifully inadequate as a weapon in fighting our messed up work-life balance.
Two weeks isn’t enough for fatherhood, but it would be pointless raising the time allowance without addressing the payment.
The thing is that having a new-born is only the beginning, there are many more years of parenting to come, with sharing of duties between parents and the State and childcare providers. We still don’t have affordable childcare. Most parents end up making huge compromises, with men and women (but usually women) having to change the way they work and earn and progress in their careers.
We are only at the earliest stages of having this important conversation about men. To increase their participation in caregiving, to disrupt outdated gender norms and help put a system into place where becoming a parent doesn’t threaten your ability to make a living and support your family.
Right now we’re only paying lip service to the notion that a dad is important in the life of his children. Gender equality between parents should last beyond the first fortnight of a child’s life. And right now we’ve priced men out of that.
The Government is out of touch with the reality of workers’ lives if they think workers can survive without their normal wages