The New Dad: Take Your Leave

THE NEW DAD:
Take Your Leave

Perspectives on paternity leave from fathers,
leading organizations, and global policies
Brad Harrington
Fred Van Deusen
Jennifer Sabatini Fraone
Samantha Eddy
Boston College
Center for Work & Family
Linda Haas
Indiana University
Purdue University
Indianapolis
Sponsored by
Boston College 2014
Many thanks to EY for sponsoring this important research project,

to the many BCCWF partner organizations that contributed their time
and information, and to the fathers who responded to our survey.
We are grateful to our families for their love and support.
Copyright 2014 Boston College Center for Work & Family
THE NEW DAD: TAKE YOUR LEAVE
Table of Contents
Introduction.......................................................................................................................................2
Fathers Attitudes about Paternity and Parental Leave................................................................ 5
Benchmarking of Company Paternity Leave Policies................................................................. 15
Global Approaches and Policies................................................................................................... 21
Summary and Recommendations................................................................................................25
Appendices......................................................................................................................................30
References.......................................................................................................................................41
Introduction
Among the most significant milestones in life, few compare with the birth of a child. While being
a parent is a long-term, some might say lifetime, endeavor, the experience of parenting may never
seem more palpable than in the days and weeks immediately following the babys arrival. The growing
importance of fathers involvement at this time in their familys lives has been a point of discussion of
late, from Buckingham Palace, where Prince William utilized the U.K.s 2-week paternity leave policy, to
the controversy over whether it is appropriate for a U.S. Major League Baseball player to miss games
by using the 72-hours his contract allows.
For virtually every developed country in the world, an appreciation of the importance of this time is acknowledged and supported through paid leave for mothers and many also provide paid leave for fathers. The
United States is a highly visible outlier, offering no national policy on paid leave for mothers or fathers.
Today, approximately 70 countries offer paid leave for fathers in the form of paternity leave or shared
parental leave (ILO, 2014). The reasons for extending leave to fathers are numerous, but most often
reflect the expression of a few consistent values: the desire for greater gender equity, a reflection of the
changing roles of men and women at home and in the workplace, and the desire to allow fathers the
time to immerse themselves in parenting on a full-time (albeit often brief) basis. Research suggests
that early, more intense engagement in parenting for men has positive long-term effects for both father
and child (Brown, Mangelsdorf, and Neff, 2012).
This report marks the Center for Work & Familys (CWFs) fifth year of providing in-depth, on-going research on the changing role of fathers under the banner of The New Dad series. In 2009, we began our
research on issues such as how new fathers transition into fatherhood roles, how they balance their
parenting role with their career priorities, how they share responsibilities with their spouses, and how
confident and competent they feel in their roles as caregivers. This last issue was a particularly central
theme in our 2012 report, The New Dad: Right at Home, which focused on the activities of the small
but growing number of at-home dads.
For those who aspire to see gender roles become less rigid and hope to see men embrace a holistic view
of being a man and father, our series of reports have certainly provided room for optimism. The nearly
3,000 fathers we have interviewed or surveyed have clearly demonstrated signs that things are changing.
The vast majority of fathers rated their children as their top priority in life. More than three out of four
expressed their desire to spend more time with their children than they do presently. More than two out
of three fathers said that caregiving for their children should be a 50/50 proposition and wanted to evenly
divide this responsibility with their spouses. And slightly more than half said they would seriously consider the possibility of being full-time, at-home dads (Harrington, Van Deusen, and Humberd, 2011).
While there are signs that men are becoming more active parents, it would be less than honest to
suggest that we have reached a new, utopian state of gender equality when it comes to managing
work and family. While its true that our research has shown that men want to spend more time with
their children, more than 3/4 of fathers said they were also looking for jobs with greater responsibility.
While 2/3 wanted to share caregiving equally, less than 1/3 said they actually do. While more than half
said they would consider being at-home dads, only 1 in 25 at-home parents is a man (Harrington et. al,
2011). It seems that we are in a period of significant transition, but the ground has not yet fully shifted.
When we ask why it is the case that most men aspire to be equal partners in caregiving but often fail to
meet even their own expectations, there can be many possible explanations for this shortfall. One cause
that seems clear from our work and that of other researchers is that this performance gap begins in the very
first days following the birth or adoption of a new child, when the disparities between the experiences of
mothers and fathers emerge immediately. In our research, the majority of fathers take only about one day
of leave time to bond with their new children for every month the typical mother takes. In our earlier study,
76% of fathers went back to work after one week or less and 96% after two weeks or less off. During that
time at home, fathers are seldom flying solo in caring for their newborns (Harrington et. al, 2011).
This failure of men to be active co-parents in the first few months of the childrens lives sets a pattern
in motion that is difficult to change. For three, four, six months, or even more, the mother develops a
close bond with her child as well as the confidence and competence to become the primary caregiver.
The father is immediately cast in the role of a supporting actor. Unless some extraordinary event occurs for example the father takes an extended leave following the mothers return to work there
seems to be a low likelihood that the roles will be reversed or even equalized.
Global research has demonstrated benefits to families when fathers take paternity leave, including increased well-being for the new mothers. In the U.K., a fathers taking paternity leave is strongly associated with mothers well-being three months after the birth (Redshaw & Henderson, 2013). In Norway,
mothers absence due to sickness is reduced by about 510% in families where fathers take longer
leave (Bratberg and Naz, 2009). In France, when paternity leave results in more infant care by fathers,
new mothers are less likely to be depressed (Sjourn, Beaum, Vaslot. and Chabrol, 2012). In Sweden, it has been estimated that each additional month of parental leave taken by the father increases
the mothers earnings by 6.7% (Johannson, 2010).
Despite these benefits, many fathers have difficulty making the time needed to bond with their children
in the first year of their lives. As a result, it is not surprising that fathers desires to be equal caregivers
often do not come to fruition. The critical early days of the childrens lives can set the stage for longterm caregiving. Fathers absence from this stage may be an important reason why mens aspirations
and current realities do not mesh.
In order to better understand the dynamics of leave-taking and its importance in setting the stage for longterm caregiving, we have dedicated this years research to the topic of paternity and parental leave for fathers. We approached our research on paternity leave from a number of perspectives. First, what do fathers
think about the issue of paternity leave? How important is it, how much time off do they need, and what
level of pay do they expect? Second, what are employers doing to support fathers with regards to paternity
leave? Third, how do government policies on leave taking differ from country to country?
More than 1,000 fathers employed by 286 different organizations across a wide range of industries
responded to our survey. In addition, 30 companies responded to our request to participate in the
benchmarking portion of this study, providing us with information about their current stances on paternity leave and offerings for new fathers. In this report we summarize the results of this benchmarking survey and highlight innovative practices to support fathers. Finally, we provide a broad overview of
what is happening globally when it comes to paternity leave and parental leave for fathers. Throughout
the report, we have spotlighted global policies to provide examples of how governments around the
world are addressing the needs of fathers in their countries.
We now share the results of the most recent study in our on-going series: The New Dad: Take Your
Leave.
Global Spotlight: Sweden

In 1974, Sweden became the first country in the world to offer fathers the statutory right of taking paid
leave from work to be with their families after childbirth and adoption. Today, Swedish fathers have access to some of the most generous and flexible rights to parental leave in the world, where the goal is to
actively promote fathers taking leave from work to care for young children in order to develop strong relationships with children and to share parenting with mothers. Fathers leave use has slowly increased;
by 2013 75% took paid paternity leave (10 days), 88% took paid parental leave (average - 91 days), and in
2010 fathers took 36% of all days of shared paid temporary leave (leave to care for sick children).
Definitions of Important Terms

Maternity leave is generally available to mothers only. It is usually understood to be a health and welfare measure, intended to protect the health of the mother and newborn child, to be taken just before,
during and immediately after childbirth.
Paternity leave is generally available to fathers only, usually to be taken soon after the birth of a child,
and intended to enable the father to spend time with his partner, new child and older children.
Parental leave is available to mothers and fathers, either as an equal entitlement or to be divided as
they choose. It is generally understood to be a care measure, intended to give parents the opportunity
to spend time caring for a young child; it usually can only be taken after the end of maternity leave. In
some cases, parents can choose to take all or part of their parental leave on a part-time basis.
Fathers Attitudes about Paternity and

Parental Leave
Description of the Fathers Paternity Leave Study
We conducted an online survey to better understand fathers attitudes about paternity and parental
leave and to learn more about their experiences in taking time off after the birth of their children. We
collected data from 1,029 fathers who had at least one child under the age of 18. The survey was
distributed by nine of our Center for Work & Family member companies as well as through social
media and our CWF list of contacts. All in all, fathers from 286 different organizations participated
in the survey 58% of participants came from the nine member companies that included accounting
firms, healthcare product organizations, insurance companies and one university. The remaining 42%
worked at a wide variety of organizations. The large majority (91%) of the respondents came from the
United States. As our international sample is small and is not representative of the various countries,
we have chosen to focus on the U.S. respondents for the remainder of this section.
The U.S. respondents were primarily married (97%), employed when their last child was born (96%),
professional workers (95%), and well educated (95% held 4-year college degrees and more than half of
those also had Masters Degrees or Doctoral Degrees).
Within the U.S. population of our study,
35% of the fathers had one child; 41% had two children; 15% had three children; 7% had four
children; 3% had more than four children
63% of the spouses/partners were employed at the time their last child was born; 37% were not
29% of the fathers were in the Millennial generation (ages 15-33); 65% were Gen X (ages 34-49);
6% were Baby Boomers (ages 50-68)
81% were White; 7% were Asian or Pacific Islander; 5% were Black; 5% were Hispanic; and
2% identified themselves as other
67% had access to paid paternity leave or paid parental leave; 33% did not.
This percentage of fathers who have access to paid paternity/parental leave (67%) is much higher than
one would find in a random sample, primarily due to the nine CWF member companies that chose
to participate in the study. Although the majority of study participants worked for organizations that
offered paid paternity or parental leave to fathers, a 2012 study for the Department of Labor reported
that only 20% of employees in the U.S. worked at worksites that offered paid paternity leave to all or
most of their employees (FMLA, 2012).
How important is it to offer paid paternity or parental leave in the U.S.?

We asked the fathers If you were considering a new job and you were considering having another
child at some point in the future, how important would it be that the employer provides paid paternity
leave or paid parental leave to its fathers?
Chart #1: Importance of paid paternity leave

50
Percentage
40
30
20
10
Extremely
important
Very
Important
Somewhat
Important
Neither
Somewhat
Very
Not at all
Important Unimportant Unimportant Important
nor
Unimportant
In total 89% of respondents indicated it was important for employers to provide paid paternity or paid
parental leave; 60% of the respondents indicated it was extremely important or very important, and
29% felt it was somewhat important. Those who currently have paternity leave felt more strongly about
this than those who did not. Fathers from the Millennial generation felt most strongly about this (93%
said it was extremely, very or somewhat important), Gen X fathers somewhat less (88%) and Boomers
least strongly (77%).
Global Spotlight: Slovenia
The vast majority of fathers take paid paternity leave in Slovenia, which can be seen as progressive for a country characterized by traditional attitudes toward mens absorption in work and womens primary responsibility for childcare. In 2011, 78% of fathers took up to 15 days of paternity leave; however, only 21% of fathers
took additional paternity leave and only 7% of fathers took any part of the available shared parental leave.
How many weeks off do fathers actually take?

The average amount of time off taken by fathers in the survey was approximately two weeks. Chart 2
shows the distribution of different amounts of time off taken by the fathers.
Chart #2: How many weeks did you take off after the birth or adoption of your last child?
40
35
30
Percentage
25
20
15
10
5
0
0 weeks
Less than
1 week
1 week
2 weeks
3 weeks
4 weeks
5 weeks
6 weeks
or more
The amount of leave taken was a combination of paternity leave (54%), parental leave (13%), Vacation/
PTO (51%), Holiday time (6%), and sick time or personal absence days (combined 4%).
There are strong correlations between the supportiveness of the workplace culture and immediate
manager, and the number of weeks that fathers took off. On average the greater the support for fathers
taking time off after the birth of their children, the more time that fathers took off. Although our pool
of data for hourly workers is very limited, in general hourly workers found their workplace cultures and
managers to be less supportive than salaried workers and were more likely to take no time off or less
than one week off than the professional workers.
We noted several other factors that appear to influence the amount of time that fathers take off.
Not surprisingly, there was an extremely strong correlation between pay and the amount of time
off taken. Fathers were more likely to take time off when it was paid.
Interestingly, the more children fathers had the lower the number of weeks they took off.
On average, Millennial and Gen X fathers took more time off than Baby Boomer fathers.
There was also a strong relationship between the duration of paid paternity leave or parental
leave offered and the number of weeks that fathers actually took off.
Chart #3: Time off taken by fathers with varying amounts of available paid paternity leave
Took no time
off
Took less than
1 week
Took 1 week
2 weeks
3 weeks
4 weeks
5 weeks
6 weeks
Took more
than 6 weeks
No Paid
1 Week of
Paternity Leave Paid Paternity
Leave
11%
1%
2 Weeks of
Paid Paternity
Leave
4%
4 Weeks of
Paid Paternity
Leave
0%
6 Weeks of
Paid Paternity
Leave
2%
21%
12%
5%
6%
0%
34%
23%
3%
2%
0%
1%
4%
49%
26%
7%
1%
0%
0%
4%
13%
64%
7%
3%
1%
2%
1%
6%
29%
6%
41%
6%
0%
6%
2%
28%
8%
8%
3%
45%
7%
Chart #3 shows the amount of time off taken by fathers who had varying amounts of paid paternity or
parental leave available to them. For example, in the column labeled No Paid Paternity Leave, you
can see that 11% of fathers who did not have paternity leave available took no time off, 21% took less
than one week off, 34% took off a week and 23% took off two weeks. The remaining 10% took off three
or more weeks. Fathers with one week of paternity leave available to them clearly took off more time on
average than those who did not have any paid leave.
Those with two weeks of paternity leave available tended to take off two weeks (64% took off two
weeks). Those with four weeks available tended to take off four weeks (41%), and those with six weeks
available tended to take off six weeks (45%). This data strongly supports the idea that fathers will take
advantage of the policies made available to them. It is also interesting to note that those with four
weeks and those with six weeks of paid leave both had a common second tendency to take two weeks
off 29% and 28% respectively. Perhaps their work demands were such that taking more time off was
not feasible, they felt that two weeks were sufficient, or they felt that two weeks was the most appropriate amount of time to take in their corporate culture.
How do fathers decide how much time off to take?

In addition to the amount of paid paternity or parental leave available, there are a number of other
factors that influence the decision of how much time off fathers take. It seemed that the fathers were
being pulled in two directions. On one side, approximately half of the survey participants said that
they were affected by their desire to be active co-parents and wanting to spend as much time as possible with their families. Yet more than 40% said the decision was affected by pressures at work such
as impending deadlines, current projects or the amount of time it would take to catch up when they
returned to work. Half reflected on this balancing act, saying the decision was based on the amount of
time they thought would be appropriate given their work and family circumstances.
Other factors that played an important role were the amount of paid time off available (either vacation
time or paid paternity/parental leave), the employment status of the spouse, the amount of family and
other child care support available, and other employer factors such as the unwritten expectations for how
much time off it is appropriate to take or the stigma associated with taking more time off from work.
We asked the fathers who did not have access to paid paternity or parental leave whether they would have
taken more time off if they had access to these types of leave. Ninety-one percent said they would have taken
more time. Of the nine percent who would not have, their primary reasons related to demands at work and
the feeling that additional time off would have had a negative impact on work projects, clients or co-workers.
How important is it to be paid for the time off?

Most fathers felt it was very important to be paid for the time off they take after the birth of their children. We asked In order for you to make use of paternity leave or parental leave, what percentage of
your normal salary would need to be paid?
Chart #4: Importance of pay rate in utilizing paternity or parental leave
I would not use it if it was less
than 100% of my normal salary
At least 90%
At least 80%
At least 70%
At least 60%
At least 50%
At least 40%
At least 30%
At least 20%
At least 10%
I would use it if it paid any
percentage of my salary at all
0
10
20
30
40
50
Percentage
The large majority (86%) of respondents said they would not make use of paternity leave or parental
leave unless at least 70% of their salaries were paid, and 45% said compensation needed to be at
100%. Those who do not currently have paid paternity or parental leave available responded very similarly on this question to those who do.
These findings may be a reflection of the fathers current circumstances:. In our sample, 85% of the
fathers were paid for all of their time off, either through vacation pay, paid paternity/parental leave,
or use of holidays or personal days. Slightly less than 6% were paid for some of the time off and just
under 10% were not paid for any of the duration of the leave.
In addition to pay we asked the fathers if they received any other benefits or financial support related
to the birth or adoption of their latest child. Ordered by number of responses, the list included: baby
gifts, lactation support (such as breast pumps, counseling), baby showers, information related to child
birth or parenting, adoption assistance, baby bonuses, and parenting and/or child birth classes. The
last two items were much less common than the others.
How do fathers spend their time off immediately following the birth?
With Their Families
There are often questions asked about what fathers do during their time off after the birth of their
children. Are they active supporters of their families or are they taking time for themselves, perhaps
playing golf or video games? We conducted a qualitative study with 49 fathers to find out the types of
activities that fathers typically perform during this time. The list of activities in Chart #5 was developed
based on this qualitative study and the response numbers are taken from the current quantitative
study.
More than 90% of the fathers reported that they spent time caring for their new children and changing
diapers. Over 80% said that they performed household tasks such as food shopping, house cleaning,
preparing meals and doing laundry. Nearly two thirds of the participants have more than one child,
and much of their time was also spent in attending to the needs of the older children. Well over half
reported taking children for doctors visits and caring for older children. It is clear that the fathers that
we sampled are indeed taking an active role in caring for their children and doing housework.
Chart #5: Fathers family activities during time off after birth
Caring for new child(ren)
Changing diapers
Shopping for food and other family needs
Visiting spouse or partner and new child(ren) at hospital
House cleaning
Preparing meals
Doing laundry
10
Taking child(ren) for doctor's visits

Bottle feeding new child(ren)
Caring for older child(ren)
Taking child(ren) to playgrounds, museums, etc.
Taking child(ren) to day care
Dealing with medical complications related to the birth
0
20
40
60
Percentage
80
100
At Work
About half of the fathers also said that they performed some work for their employers during their
time off with their families. Chart #6 shows the work-related activities that they performed during this
leave period. The overwhelming majority stayed connected to their employers in some way, with 50%
making themselves available for emergencies and 45% checking email regularly. Only 18% of fathers
reported that they did no work at all during their paternity leave.
Chart #6: Fathers work activities during time off after birth
Made myself available for emergencies
Checked email regularly (one or more times per day)
Checked voice mail
Checked email occasionally (less than once a day)
Worked from home / telecommuted
Coordinated work for others to do
Did no work at all
Called in occasionally (less than once a day)
Attended meetings remotely
Called in regularly (one or more times per day)
Went into the workplace
Worked part-time
0
10
20
30
40
50
Percentage
What is the right amount of paternity/parental leave to offer to U.S. fathers?

We asked our study participants the following question. Balancing work and family needs, what do
you feel is an appropriate amount of paternity leave or paid parental leave for employers to offer to
fathers? Less than 1% said that it shouldnt be offered or that less than one week should be offered.
Chart #7 shows the remaining 99% of responses.
11
Chart #7: Amount of paid paternity leave or parental leave that should be offered
40
35
Percentage
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
1 week
2 weeks
3-4 weeks
5-8 weeks
9-12 weeks
More than
12 weeks
As can be seen from Chart #7, 74% of the fathers in the study recommended that two weeks or three
to four weeks of paid paternity leave be provided. Baby boomers were significantly lower in their expectations for how much time should be offered than Millennial and Gen X fathers.
Global Spotlight: Iceland

In Iceland fathers are granted the longest nontransferable right to family leave in the world. By 2009,
96% of fathers in Iceland took leave, for an average of 99 days. Fathers take one-third of all family
leave days taken by parents, also the highest in the world. The most common pattern of leave-taking is
for the parents to be home together the first month after childbirth, and then mothers are home alone
for two additional months before they return to work. At that point, fathers tend to take their remaining
two months of leave, although they are more likely than mothers to take leave in more than one block.
12
What would be the ideal arrangement for taking the time off?
Only 20% of the study participants felt that all of the time off should be taken consecutively beginning
with the birth of their children. More than 75% preferred the option to take the paid time off when it
was most needed after the birth, within a specified period of time such as six months. For example,
over a six month period after the birth of their child, they could take two weeks at the beginning and
then additional days off as needed up to the maximum amount allowed.
A number of respondents suggested that the time off should be used within one year rather than six
months. One person commented that time off could be delayed and not necessarily start immediately
following the birth. Several fathers suggested that it would make sense to have the time available after
their wives maternity leave ended.
A Question of Philosophy
We also asked the fathers a somewhat philosophical question. Do you feel fathers should have as
much paid time off after their childrens birth as mothers do? (excluding any time needed for medical
recovery by the mother). Their responses were somewhat evenly distributed: 43% answered yes
and 57% answered no.
The mens comments on their responses provide some excellent insights into their thoughts on this
question, as well as how they feel about paternity/parental leave in general. Interestingly, many of the
fathers who answered no had quite similar thoughts to those that answered yes which indicates a
lot of common middle ground on this issue.
On the yes side many fathers mentioned the changing role of fathers. Expectations for fathers to be
highly involved with their children have increased and fathers are responding to these expectations.
They see their peers being actively involved and often their spouses are looking for more equity in their
relationships. There is increasing evidence that developing bonds with children at an early age improves the likelihood of a stronger relationship later in life (Lamb, 2010).
After taking three weeks off with my second child, the amount of bonding that occurred with
my entire family started a strong foundation for our new family going forward. My wife and I
still recall how wonderful the time was for everyone.
There was broad support for paid parental leave that can be shared by both spouses. Often both
parents are working professionals, and need to split the time off in a manner that maximizes time with
family and minimizes impact on work and career. It was also suggested that fathers can and should
play a more active and supportive role after their children are born.
Mothers need time for their bodies to recover. It would be nice to be home with the mother to
assist during this period which work sometimes doesnt consider.
On the no side the fathers listed the important medical and physiological differences that suggest
that women should have more paid time off than men, citing both the need to recover physically and
emotionally as well as the requirement to breast feed. There were also some comments about the
roles of mothers and fathers.
Mothers tend to have more responsibilities than dads when it comes to children. I think dads
should have paid time, but I dont believe it has to be completely equal.
There was clear acknowledgment on both sides that deciding which parent should have more time off
depends on the situation, suggesting that a father who is the primary caregiver should have more time
off. Some companies provide different amounts of time off depending on which parent is the primary
caregiver. Although this is a more non-gendered approach, it can present a challenge for couples that
want to share equally in the caregiving as neither would technically be the primary caregiver.
There was also general agreement that fathers deserve more paid time off then they commonly receive.
Most comments on this suggested time off in the range of two to four weeks. Current business realities
present constraints on what some men feel would be ideal, and are an important consideration.
From a business owner standpoint though how do businesses afford that? Is it possible to
purchase insurance policies that cover wages during that period? It may sound silly but since
a huge majority of businesses are small businesses and not F500 companies, we need to find a
way to properly budget for it without negatively impacting lifestyle or competitiveness.
13
The importance of flexible work arrangements was raised as well, and could provide a useful addition
to paternity and parental leave that meets both business needs and the needs of the fathers. Indeed,
95% of the fathers we surveyed indicated that it is extremely, very, or somewhat important that an
employer provides and actively supports flexible work arrangements, with 79% reporting that this is
extremely or very important.
Flexible work arrangements were/are the most important factor to me. In my situation I was
not needed at home full time I needed time to help my wife with the new baby and to help
care for my other child, but this was not a full time need. So being able to balance those needs
with continuing to fulfill my work/project obligations was key on a day-to-day basis. Reduced
work hours during the first weeks of the new baby is important but complete time off is not.
Summary of Findings
In our study 89% of the respondents indicated it was important for employers to provide paid paternity or paid parental leave. Fathers need this time to bond with their newborn or adopted children and
to support their spouses and older children. About three quarters of the fathers in the study recommended that 2-4 weeks of paid paternity leave be provided, believing that was the right amount of time
to balance their needs to be active co-parents with their needs to be important contributors at work.
A large majority of the respondents said they would not make use of paternity leave or parental leave
unless at least 70% of their salaries were paid, and forty-five percent said compensation needed to be
100%. There was also strong support for having the ability to take the paid paternity time off when
it was most needed, not necessarily in consecutive weeks immediately following the birth. This is
particularly true for longer leaves. Fathers also cited the importance of flexible work options to facilitate
their continued caregiving role with their children.
Based on the data presented throughout this section, it is clear that parental circumstances vary
greatly, as do fathers expectations and needs, and both company policies and governmental legislation need to be flexible enough to take these variations into account.
Let us now shift our attention to organizations and what they are doing to support the needs of fathers.
14
Benchmarking of Company Paternity

Leave Policies
One of the goals of this study was to survey the landscape of what companies are offering to their employees in the way of paternity and parental leave. The Boston College Center for Work & Family contacted the members of our corporate partner organizations to request that they complete a survey informing
us about the policies, practices, and culture of their organizations as they relate to paternity leave and
parental leave for fathers. We obtained 30 responses from these organizations that represent a broad
range of industries including accounting, pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, hospitality, education, insurance and financial services.
The large majority of responses came from HR professionals with responsibilities focusing on the
United States. We also received two responses from global partners in Brazil and Switzerland which
revealed policies in their specific countries.
To provide some context for the types of companies who responded to the survey, organizations that
join CWF tend to be quite committed to family-friendly workplaces. Therefore, the survey results may
not be generalizable to the overall population of companies across the United States and globally. The
organizations included in this study may have more extensive and generous paternity and parental
leave policies than companies in general.
As a point of comparison to our survey results, it is interesting to review the results of a larger survey
of employee benefits conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). 15% of
the 500+ organizations in the 2013 SHRM Employee Benefits Survey offered paid paternity leave. In
2010, 74% of Working Mothers Best Companies provided paternity leave to birth fathers (Institute for
Womens Policy Research, 2011).
Paternity Leave Policies

In our benchmarking survey 18 organizations (or 60%) offer paid paternity leave or paid parental leave
specific to fathers (in addition to FMLA), while 40% did not offer this benefit.
Among the 60% that do offer paternity leave, we asked when their policy was initially launched.
Answers ranged from the mid-1990s to 2014, showing a large span of when companies decided to
implement this benefit for employees. The year 2007 was most commonly cited, although the responses varied widely over the nearly 20-year span.
Duration of leave
We asked survey participants how much time is available to new fathers for paternity or parental leave
and discovered a wide range between three days and 12 weeks of paid paternity or parental leave.
For policies that didnt differentiate between primary and secondary caregivers, fathers were
given an average of two weeks of paid leave
For policies that did have designated provisions for fathers who were primary or secondary
caregivers, fathers as primary caregivers were given an average of about eight weeks, which was
approximately three times as much as the leave offered to secondary caregivers
15
These organizations have moved beyond seeing gender as the designation of who in a family will be
the primary or secondary caregiver. They generally rely on an honor system of self-reporting from the
father as to his caregiver status.
With regards to pay, all respondents to our survey who offered leave reported that fathers were compensated at 100% of their regular earnings for the duration of the paternity/parental leave.
Utilization and requests

In the media, and anecdotally, we have noted an increase in conversations about the perceived acceptability of taking paternity leave. To validate this, we wanted to obtain input from the Human Resource
professionals who would be monitoring these requests. Among our respondents, nearly half indicated
that they had been experiencing increased utilization of, or requests for, paternity or parental leave for
fathers. A small number noted that since the start of the program, heavy use rates have been prevalent. One respondent noted that Millennials have been much more likely to take leave.
Organizational Spotlight: American Express

At American Express, we recognize the challenges our employees face managing work and family,
which is why were proud to have the Parents at Amex, an employee-formed network dedicated to supporting working parents across the company. The network provides working families relevant parenting
/work-life programs and resources, including the Fatherhood Breakfast Series. Through this series,
employees can hear from leaders in the organization who are fathers about staying connected with their
children, being involved in their activities, learning what worked for them, and hearing their personal
struggles to find their work-life fit. The program is attended by both fathers and mothers, even single
employees who are considering having children.
Plans to modify policy
16
We asked whether the responding organizations had plans to modify their paternity leave or parental
leave policy for fathers in 2014 and the reasoning behind that decision. Over 80% of respondents
indicated that they did not plan to modify their policies. Some had recently increased the benefits they
offered, while others reported that other benefits needed to be prioritized at this time. The remaining
respondents indicated that they are always reviewing their benefits, but did not specify imminent plans
to alter their current policies.
Ideal amount of time identified by HR Professionals

We asked the HR professionals responding to the survey for their opinions on what they believed
would be the ideal amount of time and compensation for paternity leave or parental leave for fathers at
their organizations. Responses ranged from one week to eight weeks. Half of the respondents indicated that two weeks paid leave would be ideal. There were quite a few responses in the four to six week
range; on average, members asserted that between three and four weeks was appropriate.
Organizational Spotlight: EY
In the early 2000s Ernst & Young LLP, the US member firm of the global EY organization, was first
among the Big 4 professional services firms to offer paid parental leave for men and women. The firm
rolled out paid parental leave benefits because the organization wanted to do more for women and
men. Today, the generous fully-paid parental leave package includes:
14 paid weeks off for birth moms
2 weeks paid for fathers, with 6 paid weeks for primary care dads and adoptive parents
4 additional weeks of time off beyond what the Family and Medical Leave Act requires
Dads have a range of options for how they take this time. EY finds that some men take two weeks when
the baby is born, then another four weeks when mom goes back to work or school full-time. Nearly all eligible men take parental leave, as is the case for EY women. In fact, between 500 and 600 plus men at the
firm take paid parental leaves each year which is roughly consistent with the number of women who
take paid parental leaves annually.
In addition to parental leave, EY supports working parents by offering formal flexible work arrangements
(FWAs), day-to-day flexibility, professional networks, and its new Career and Family Transitions coaching
program. The latter supports select men and women welcoming a new baby through individual and group
coaching sessions held before and after the birth or adoption of their child.
Internal research suggests these efforts positively impact engagement. EY periodically conducts a Global
People Survey to measure the engagement of its more than 175,000 professionals, and Ernst & Young
LLPs 2013 survey included questions regarding child care responsibilities for US professionals for the first
time. Results indicated the firms working parents expressed the highest levels of engagement among all
professionals, which can likely be attributed to the aforementioned programs as well as the flexible and
inclusive workplace culture.
Organizational Culture
We wanted to delve further into the cultural factors that impact mens perceived abilities to avail themselves fully of paternity leave policies. We asked HR respondents in companies that provide paternity
leave whether they believe their organizational culture supports men who choose to use paternity leave
or parental leave.
The overwhelming number of member respondents thought their organizations were supportive of
fathers taking paternity leave. This was reasoned through:
Communication to managers about the importance of accepting paternity leave policies
Increases in men utilizing the time off since its implementation
Managers support for leave policies
Lack of requests to alter the amount of time provided
17
For organizations that raised issues of cultural difficulty the reasons noted were:
Different treatment of paternity leave in different parts of the organization based on the subcultures
Women supporting paternity leave more than men and younger people being more supportive
than older workers
Managerial issues, such as coverage and customer service
General mixed feelings about paid time off for new fathers
We asked what barriers existed for fathers wishing to take paternity leave or parental leave. Common
barriers identified were:
general perception that it would be frowned upon despite policy
women being seen as primary caregivers
paying fathers while they werent working
heavy workload
team expectations
job role/ responsibilities
time of year (e.g. accounting firms)
difficulties of determining secondary vs. primary caregiver role.
Most respondents (85%) had not developed a business case for paternity leave or parental leave. One
organizations rationale for the development of their policy was to provide men and women, as well as birth
and adoptive parents, with a universal policy. Other respondents noted that the organization just felt or
recognized that it was a necessary next step for talent retention. Respondents also noted that the policy
development seemed to follow naturally from trends in fathers taking time off after births or adoptions.
Global Spotlight: Portugal

18
Since 2009 Portugal has embarked on an ambitious effort to actively promote womens full employment and fathers participation in early childcare with a system that offers both a carrot and a stick.
Portugal is one of the few countries to require fathers to take paid parental leave after childbirth and
offers bonus leave to couples where fathers are home alone for part of the family leave. Parental leave
is financed two-thirds by contributions from employers and one-third by employees, all paid into the Social Security system. Portugal compensates fathers for leave-taking at a higher standard than elsewhere
in the world, which removes economic barriers to fathers staying home. Before fathers only parental
leave was made obligatory in 2004, only 36% of fathers took this form of leave. By 2012, 81% of fathers
took the obligatory portion of the leave with an additional 69% taking the optional days.
Future plans for paternity leave

For companies who do not currently offer paternity leave, we asked whether they plan to offer paternity
leave or parental leave specifically for fathers in the future.
The majority of member respondents were unsure of how they would proceed in the future in regards
to paternity and parental leave, while one was clear that their organization would offer paternity leave
as a future benefit. Several respondents indicated that they would be reviewing the results of this report to help them determine their approach.
Half of the respondents who do not currently offer paternity leave indicated that their organizations
have been receiving more inquires or requests from fathers regarding paternity or parental leave in the
past two years.
When asked about what barriers prevent the organization from implementing paternity leave, organizations noted cost, workplace culture, coverage while the father is on leave, and the difficulty of creating infrastructure to deal with implementing paternity leave.
Other supports for fathers

We asked whether organizations provided any other supports for fathers, beyond paternity or parental
leave. Only 13% indicated that they have fathers groups at their organization. An additional 29% offer
parent groups that are not specific to mothers or fathers. One respondent reported specifically that
fathers were active in their parenting group, making up 50% of the total population of the group. Many
of the organizations also reported that they have flexible work arrangements that allow employees to
better balance their work and personal lives.
Organizational Spotlight: Deloitte Dads, Deloitte Canada

Deloittes corporate culture and belief system has traditionally been supportive of parents, and informal
interactions between senior level men advising new fathers at the firm were common. A number of fathers sought to formalize and expand on these relationships by developing an official employee network
with a mandate to support fathers who want to continue their career trajectory in the practice while
maintaining an active parenting role.
The group offers programming in four areas.
A
wareness building and advocacy: internal forums where they work with senior leaders to run sessions
where senior leaders offer advice on how to be successful as a father and professional in a safe environment
E
ducation: guest speakers and industry experts on topics like parenting and time management
F
un: organizing family-focused events such as viewing the Toronto Santa Claus parade from the corporate office boardroom
M
ake the world a better place: organizing people to raise funds and goods for childrens charities
through the United Way
The Deloitte Dads have had tremendous success in the greater Toronto area, now with several hundred participants, and hopes to build on their momentum and expand to share their experience across
Canada and with other global member firms.
19
Conclusions
The responses to our survey represent self-selected organizations that had something to say about paternity leave, and cannot be generalized to all organizations. We can make inferences about what leading companies are beginning to do in regards to paid leave policies for fathers. The trend for these
organizations is to offer paid paternity/parental leave at 100% of salary for an average of two weeks,
with some providing four or six weeks to fathers who are identified as primary caregivers.
Common barriers to implementing a paternity or parental leave policy for fathers included: cost, work
coverage for the father while he is on leave, and in some instances cultural factors. We also observed a
trend toward more gender-neutral framing of parental leave, using terms like primary caregiver and
secondary caregiver in place of mother and father.
We appear to be at a transition point where many organizations (as well as governments) are evaluating the need for and feasibility of offering paid leave to fathers. The next section of the report presents
a global perspective on paternity leave, looking at what other countries offer and what the implications
of their policies have been on employees, families, organizations and society.
Organizational Spotlight: Herman Miller

Herman Miller is a recognized innovator in contemporary interior furnishings, solutions for healthcare environments, and related technologies and services. The company is known for its people-centric
employment policies and family-supportive work culture that offers flexible working options to its more
than 5,000 employees.
In the past decade the company has been listed as one of Fortunes Most Admired Companies and
100 Best Companies to Work for in America. Most recently the company was named to Working
Mothers magazine 100 Best Companies list. The company offers a competitive benefits package; a
focus on health and wellness that includes on-site clinics and on-site fitness centers; family friendly
events like a company picnic; and other unique perks and benefits.
20
Herman Millers paid paternity leave benefit allows new fathers to take up to two weeks of time off, paid
at 100% of salary, following the birth or adoption of a child. The benefit is available to all employees upon
hire, and is offered to both exempt and non-exempt employees who work more than 20 hours per week.
Global Approaches and Policies

In spite of its wealth and spirit of innovation, the U.S. has failed to adopt any form of national paid
leave program for parents. In fact, it was not until 1993 that the Family and Medical Leave Act (or
FMLA) was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Clinton. While this legislation was a
step forward in the policy landscape for working parents in America, it was a modest step at best. But
even this small step came with a number of caveats for example the individual has to have worked
for at least one year for his/her employer and must be employed at a worksite with 50 employees or
more. This rule alone limited the universality of the law to approximately 60% of American workers
(FMLA p.21).
To counter the effects of the lack of national policy on parental leave in the U.S., some leading companies have created more favorable leave policies as benefits for their working parents. Companies that
offer paid paternity leave for fathers, currently estimated at 15-20% of companies nationally, generally
offer leave ranging from 1-2 weeks. In the past decade, there have been a handful of states that have
enacted mandatory paid leave policies for mothers and fathers. Rhode Island recently joined California
and New Jersey as the third state in the nation to adopt paid parental leave. See the U.S. section in Appendix 2 for additional information.
The United States stands in stark contrast to its global peers, many of whom have legislated both
paid maternity and paternity leave. In this section, we explore the policies outside of the United States
and their varying success in encouraging fathers to take their leave. We examine both trends that are
effectively promoting leave-taking but also acknowledge how different countries have been able to
implement policies with varying rates of success. Consequently, while there are fundamental needs for
adequate paternity and parental leave, the ways in which policies encourage fathers to participate are
numerous and flexible.
A Review of Global Approaches

The International Leave Network conducted a study of 34 developed nations and their leave policies
(Moss, 2013). See the appendices at the end of this report for additional details. Among these cases, the
United States was one of two countries that failed to offer some form of paid leave for fathers through
statutory paternity or parental clauses, the other being Switzerland. Of the countries that did offer paid
paternity leave, best practices emerged that resulted in increased take-up by new dads. Using data drawn
from the International Leave Network and the Council of Europes Family Policy Database we can examine global trends in paternity leave legislation and fathers participation (Council of Europe).
This analysis includes countries that provide paternity leave as well as countries that have father-specific clauses in their parental leave, functioning similarly to statutory paternity legislation. For example,
Portugal recently redefined paternity leave as a new clause within parental leave. It is important to note
that take-up rates by fathers are specific to leave provided by the government and not those provided
by individual employers. We analyzed these data to explore which legislative policies led to higher
participation rates.
21
Chart #9: Who Funds Fathers Parental Leave?
Chart #8: Paternity Legislation in 34 Countries
25%
50%
35%
53%
25%
6%
6%
The Employer
No Statutory Leave
The Government
Statutory Leave with No Pay
A Healthcare Program
Statutory Leave with <66% Pay

Statutory Leave with >66% Pay
Across the 34 countries, the majority provided paternity leave with a high pay rate, defined by the
Leave Network as greater than 66% of normal salary (Moss, 2013). Countries with less than 66%
compensation still saw notable fathers participation, however, it was significantly less than those with
a high pay rate. Among those that provided paternity leave, the most common source of funding was
a healthcare program comprised of employer and employee contributions as well as general taxation
funds. Paternity leave funded fully by the employer or the government were less common. The average
legislated paternity leave was 1.8 weeks. However, fathers across the countries took an average of 2.2
weeks. This is similar to the average time taken by United States fathers in our own paternity leave survey. On average, 62% of eligible fathers took paternity leave or father-specific parental leave, showing
that a little over half the men eligible for paternity leave are taking advantage of it. These participation
rates may indicate that legislative regulation may not be enough to overcome cultural and workplace
issues associated with paternity leave.
22
Chart #10: The Percentage of Men Using Statutory Paternity Leave

A high participatory rate doesnt indicate that fathers are readily using all the leave available. For
example, with 82% participation, Finland has one of the highest take-up rates of all the countries and
is known for particularly generous paternity and parental leave legislation (Haataja, 2009). Finland
offers nine weeks of paternity leave and 6.1 weeks of pooled family leave. However, on average, Finnish fathers only take three weeks of paternity leave and are hesitant to use the shared parental leave
(Moss 2013; Haas & Rostgaard, 2011). This is consistent with previous research that found that fathers
felt uncomfortable taking time that mothers could have taken in order to be with the newborn and
100
80
Percentage
60
40
20
ew
Ze
al
an
Po d
U. lan
Ki
ng d
do
m
Es
t
N
et oni
he a
rla
nd
D
en s
m
ar
k
Fr
an
Be ce
lg
iu
m
Sp
a
Sw in
ed
Sl en
ov
en
Po ia
rtu
g
Fi al
nl
an
N d
or
w
Au ay
st
ra
l
Av ia
er
ag
e
consequently, avoid taking family-assigned time (McKay & Doucet, 2010). The Leave Network data
indicate a similar trend with fathers reluctantly using family leave as compared with those in countries
with legislative language that targets and specifically assigns leave for fathers within a parental leave
clause. Similarly, low participation can be informative but misleading. New Zealand fathers were five
times more likely to take paid employer leave than legislated unpaid leave, showing the importance of
financial support in encouraging dads to use leave policies (Moss, 2013).
There is a significant correlation between the United Nations Gender Inequality Ranking for Countries and
fathers take-up of paternity leave or father-specific parental leave (Gender Inequality Index 2012). Countries
with higher rankings of gender equity tend to see greater use of paternity or parental leave by fathers.
Government policies that directly encourage fathers to take more leave by providing well paid leave
that is available only to fathers have seen increased participation. A variety of different approaches
have been successful in encouraging leave-taking, demonstrating the flexible means through which effective policies can be implemented. For details on global paternity and parental leave clauses in more
than 30 different countries, please see Appendix 1. For more detailed information on seven spotlighted countries, please see Appendix 2.
23
Global Spotlight: Japan

Japan is well-known as a nation where fathers work long hours to support mothers and children. Since
the turn of the millennium, however, policymaking has taken a dramatic turn, in response to a plummeting birth rate. Policies now enable couples to follow a new model of family life, where fathers work
fewer hours and mothers of young children are in the labor market. The governments 2010 Plan for
Gender Equality includes specific goals for public sector fathers to take parental leave; the law also prohibits all fathers from working more than 150 hours per year overtime. Annual surveys are conducted
on companies and individuals to trace progress in work-family reconciliation. Under the Act on the
Advancement of Measures to Support Raising the Next Generation of Children (2003), employers are
obliged to establish annual action plans for improving the employment environment to support balancing work and child-raising. The majority of employers now offer family-friendly benefits to fathers as
well as mothers, including 1-5 days of paid paternity leave, reduced and flexible work hours.
24
Summary and Recommendations

Perhaps the most important point to be drawn from this study relates to the first question we reported
on: How important is paid paternity or parental leave when considering a future employer? Of the
more than 900 responses we received from the U.S. fathers who participated in the study, 89% rated
paternity leave as somewhat, very or extremely important (with 60% rating it in the latter two categories.) The fact that todays fathers rate this benefit as so crucial speaks to the changes we are seeing as
they re-imagine their caregiving roles. From the company benchmarking study, we learned that many
organizations see offering paternity leave as an important factor in retaining men in their organizations. About half of respondents indicated that they had been observing an increase in requests for paternity leave and that interest in and utilization of paternity leave by Millennials was particularly high.
The second important message from our data is that being paid for the time off is extremely important
to fathers. Five out of six fathers in the U.S. said that they would only take time off if they were paid at
least 70% of their salary and 45% wanted full salary during their leave. We found similar results internationally. In countries where the rate of pay for the time off was low, the use of these programs was
also much lower. However, many countries that provided less than 100% but more than 66% compensation reported impressive participation rates by fathers.
Perhaps two important factors carry the day here, one biological and the other sociological. First,
obviously women give birth, not men. As such, there is an undeniable, medical need for women to
take time off for childbirth. For men, taking time off is still a matter of choice. Perhaps almost as importantly, men are still the primary breadwinners in the majority of two-parent households. Therefore,
their salaries are seen as perhaps more necessary, especially if the mother is taking time off. So while
men today show a greater desire to take time off with their newborns, they do not see taking that time
off and losing a paycheck as viable, especially at a time when their partner is often not earning any
income.
Nearly three quarters of the fathers believed that the most appropriate amount of time for fathers to
have off for paternity leave is between two and four weeks. It seemed that two weeks was a timeframe
that was in many fathers minds as reasonable when balancing out the competing needs and desires
of their home and their workplace. Even in organizations which offered four or six weeks of paid leave,
a significant number of fathers took only two weeks off, feeling that was an appropriate timeframe or
that the demands of their work made taking more time undesirable. There seems to be an implied
social acceptance of a two-week leave (similar in length to a long vacation) that makes men more
inclined to use it.
In our survey, 95% of dads rated flexibility as important, with 79% indicating that it is extremely or very
important that their employer provides and actively supports flexible work arrangements. While paternity
leave is highly desirable in the initial months of a childs life, it is the availability of workplace flexibility
that will allow fathers to continue the high level of engagement with their children over the years.
In our benchmarking study, organizations that offered paid leave provided fathers an average of two
weeks at full salary. Some progressive organizations offered additional time (six to 8 weeks) if the
father was named the primary caregiver in the family (most often after the mother returned to work).
It was interesting to note that 76% of fathers would prefer the option of not taking all their time off immediately following the birth of their children when there are often other pairs of hands available to
offer assistance. Fathers felt taking some of their time later would be more beneficial to their families.
25
A second benefit might also be allowing men to spend more time providing solo-care, an important
way to develop mens caregiving skills. Delaying their time off could also ease the transition of their
wives back into the workplace.
Our review of global policies indicates a growing support for paternity leave and the acknowledgment
of the increased involvement of fathers as caregivers across the world. There is a wide variety of different paternity and parental leave legislation worldwide, but we were able to discern some common
threads.
Although some countries provide very generous paternity and parental leave policies, the average amount of paternity leave time that fathers actually take off is fairly similar to the U.S., 2.2
weeks.
Among those countries that provided paternity leave, the most common source of funding was
a healthcare program comprised of employer and employee contributions as well as general
taxation funds. Paternity leave funded fully by the employer or the government were less common.
On average, 62% of eligible fathers in the 34 countries studied took paternity leave or fatherspecific parental leave, showing that somewhat over half the men eligible for paternity leave are
taking advantage of it.
Countries with higher rankings of gender equity tend to see greater use of paternity or parental
leave by fathers.
Recommendations for Fathers

It is quite clear from our various studies that most fathers want to be more involved in bringing up
their children and in having more equitable child care arrangements with their spouses. Taking time
off when children are born is a very important way to follow through on that commitment. With that
thought in mind, here are our recommendations for fathers.
26
T
ake your leave! Become familiar with the policies at your organization and discuss benefits and
options with your manager and Human Resources. Take as much time as is feasible for your circumstances. Prepare for your leave in advance by working with your manager and colleagues to
ensure coverage and a successful transition. Even if other fathers in your department or team
have not taken leave, by taking full advantage of this benefit, you can lead the way for other
fathers to feel more comfortable in spending the important first days with their own children.
Consider a reduced or flexible schedule that will allow you to spend more time with family.
B
e a proud father, in words and actions. Although men may face a stigma for being vocal about
their caregiving role, it is important that they make their voices heard both as parents and as
leaders. As parents, fathers need to be vocal and active in terms of helping their employers
know more about the important role they play in child rearing at home. Societal norms are
changing, but it is still difficult for men to be open about how important being an active father
is to them. The more we discuss these issues in the workplace and our lives, the more we normalize the important caregiving roles that fathers play.
E
stablish a parenting partnership with your spouse or significant other. Men who seek to be
shared-caregivers with their spouses or significant others should understand the critical role
the earliest days of a childs life plays in bonding with their children, building confidence in their
child care skills, and establishing their role as an equal partner in parenting. Spend as much time
bonding with and caring for your children as you are able to. Be willing to set traditional gender
norms aside and negotiate new family roles with your partner. Have early and frequent conversations about how caregiving and household tasks can be accomplished as a team. Consider taking
time off when your spouse/partner returns to work to ease the transition. Discuss your joint career
goals and your parenting goals and how you can work together to accomplish them.
S
tart a fathers group at your organization. Whether a formal Employee Resource Group, or an
informal monthly lunch gathering, developing relationships with other dads and parents in your
organization can provide a forum to share ideas and support one-another. Inform expecting
and new dads about the forum and invite them to join. Request that Human Resource representatives join one of the groups meetings to discuss enhancing current benefits and policies for
fathers.
B
e a supportive leader. Men play an important role in setting the tone and culture within their
organizations. Demonstrating that they support employees full lives, including their commitment to their families, can contribute to a culture that allows employees to thrive.
A
dvocate for change In the U.S., the lack of paid parental leave has been a problem that working families, and specifically working mothers, have struggled with for many years. Adding your
voice to those who support more family-friendly workplace policies will influence not only individual employers but also state and national policies in this area, which are currently receiving
renewed interest.
Recommendations for Organizations

It is clear that changing demographics are necessitating the increased involvement of fathers in caregiving for their children. As more of these involved fathers enter leadership roles, we would expect
them to not only spend time with their own children, but also to recognize the importance of other
fathers needing to do this. The traditional model of executive, fully career-centric man with a stay-athome wife is no longer the image of most couples today.
Men are more and more likely to marry a woman who has a higher level of education and career aspirations than they do. Fathers are becoming the primary caregiver for their families more frequently than in
the past. We envision that this trend will continue as womens success in higher education and climbing
ladders in their organizations continues. Organizations that acknowledge and respect the multiple roles
that fathers play today will reap their rewards in terms of loyalty, productivity, and long-term retention.
O
ffer paternity leave as part of your talent management strategy. Organizations that offer parental leave policies and flexibility for fathers, recognizing that dads are parents too, will have
advantages when it comes to attracting and retaining talented employees. In highly competitive
fields such as the accounting industry and high technology (Silicon Valley) where the war for talent and the need for Millennial aged workers rages on, increasingly generous policies are being
offered. Paid paternity leave is one way to stand out as an employer of choice. In the two surveys
conducted in this study, fathers and HR practitioners generally agree that between two to four
weeks is an appropriate amount of paternity leave for fathers who are not primary caregivers.
B
uild a business case for adding or expanding paid paternity leave. Track and analyze current
utilization of paternity leave policies, and use of PTO/vacation/sick leave by men after the birth
of a child. Analyze your employee demographics; look at turnover data and exit interviews for evidence of men departing for reasons related to work-family balance. Consider a pulse survey or
adding questions to your general employee satisfaction survey to better understand the needs
27
of your employees related to parental leave and flexibility. Consider what your competitors are
doing to support their working fathers. Seek out executive champions who will vocally support
and advocate for policies that better reflect the current and future needs of your workforce.
Make the paternity leave policies flexible. Parental circumstances vary greatly, as do fathers
expectations. Policies that take these differences into account will likely be the most successful.
Providing a basic amount of paid paternity leave, for example, two to four weeks, with the potential for additional time off based on family circumstances, would seem to meet most needs.
This additional time off could be in the form of parental leave or reduced work hours. Allow
fathers the flexibility to choose the time frame when taking leave that best meets their family
needs (for example: right after birth, or when their spouse returns to work).
E
mbrace flexible work as a business strategy. Paternity and parental leave are highly valued and
important benefits for families in the short term, when a new baby arrives. Parental responsibilities remain as children become older and schedule control and flexibility assist parents in meeting both their professional and personal goals. Working from home, or staggering start and end
times of the workday as needed, can alleviate some of the stresses of balancing work and family
life. Leverage technology and results-focused performance goals to make flexible work options
available to as many employees as possible, not just parents.
U
nderstand the impact of men on womens advancement. It is important for any organization
that is truly committed to womens advancement to recognize that womens growth into roles
of greater responsibility will be dependent not only on what happens in the workplace, but also
at home. In order for women to achieve parity at work, it is critical that men be not just allowed,
but encouraged to take a greater role in the raising and caring for their children. Until this is the
case, mentoring, executive education targeted for women, and exhortations to lean in will not
have their intended effect in developing women and tomorrows organizational leaders.
D
evelop a supportive culture. Finally, establishing a culture that respects employees as whole
persons with full lives promotes a healthy, productive work environment. Given the demanding
nature of most jobs, workplaces need to become more proactive and creative at work redesign
so that work doesnt suffer when an employee is absent. Workplaces that are flexible, have more
cross-training, more team-based work sharing, and an attitude that they can learn something from
having to rearrange work (help develop new people for example) will be more father-friendly.
28
Global Spotlight: U.K.

U.K. fathers gained the right to paid paternity leave in 2003. Recent legislation has set the stage for
what in the U.K. is regarded as a dramatic change in fathers rights to parental leave. Currently, mothers are entitled to 39 weeks of maternity leave paid at 90% of their average earnings for the first 6
weeks and thereafter at $118 a week. To allow fathers to play a greater role in childrearing, in 2015 a
more flexible form of parental leave is being established, called shared parental leave. Mothers may
transfer up to 37 weeks of leave to fathers (with the same pay structure as before). Fathers may take
leave only in week-long blocks of time (i.e., not on a part-time basis). Parents will be able to take leave
at the same time. One interesting feature of this system is that parents have access to keep in touch
days, whereby they can return to work for up to 10 days each while on parental leave without giving up
their leave so that they can stay informed about workplace developments.
Recommendations for Legislators

While we note in the report that legislation is not a panacea for creating gender equity, attaining worklife balance, or increasing organizational acceptance of fathers as caregivers, there can be little doubt
that effective legislation enables and ratifies fathers active involvement in caregiving. As can be seen
in the Appendices of this report, there is a wide range of national policies that address the issue of
paternal leave. It is clear that an increasing number of developed nations are moving forward on this
issue of paid parental leave for fathers.
The U.S. presents a special case and a special challenge on this front. No major economic power
has been as slow to recognize the importance of providing leaves and financial support to parents,
both mothers and fathers. Perhaps the model of one state at a time will be the way that the balance
toward more family-friendly government policies builds toward a national movement (Milkman & Appelbaum, 2013).
As U.S. states and the federal government debate legislation like the Family Act and other paid leave
statutes, the important role of fathers must be considered. When addressing the economic success
of women and families, as many recent discussions and forums are striving to do, bringing men and
fathers into the conversation is crucial. Many lessons can be learned from other countries that have
developed paternity leave and parental leave policies (Haas & Rostgaard, 2011).
We learn that statutory rights (government-provided) leave for fathers is needed so that leave
is not restricted just to fathers whose employers are family-friendly. This is the only way to get
wide coverage.
In nations where there are statutory rights, employers often build upon those by offering higher
compensation to attract and retain talent.
Leave needs to be paid for fathers to take it, at least 2/3 of their normal salary.
Fathers are more likely to take parental leave if they have individualized rights to this leave that
cannot be transferred to mothers.
Leave rights needs to be well advertised and communicated as a normal part of the transition
to fatherhood.
Conclusion
As with all our research to date on the changing role of fathers, we realize that while we are moving
forward with mens evolving roles, gender is still a primary determinant of who plays what role in
family life. One step toward increasing mens impact and involvement at home is providing effective
and attractive parental leave policies for women and men. Once such policies become the norm for all
employers, it is critical that men who choose to be more engaged fathers understand the importance
of the exhortation TAKE YOUR LEAVE!
29
Appendix 1
The following information on countries that provide statutory leave for fathers was obtained from the
International Network on Leave Policies & Research. The Leave Network was established in 2004
and has members from 35 countries mostly in Europe, but some from beyond including Australia,
Canada and the United States. They share an interest in and knowledge of leave policies and research
into these policies.
Source: P. Moss (Ed.), Review of Leave Policies and Related Research 2013. www.leavenetwork.org
Definitions and Symbols

Lowly paid: provides less than 66% of full salary
Highly paid: provides more than 66% of full salary
^ there is a maximum ceiling
* only one parent can be paid at a time
COUNTRIES THAT PROVIDE STATUTORY FATHERS LEAVE

Country
Paternity Leave
Parental Leave
Australia
2 weeks, minimum wage
12 months unpaid
Austria
30
Share 12-36 months lowly paid
Belgium
3 days, 100% paid + 7 days, 82%
Brazil
1 week, 100% paid
Canada
Quebec provides up to 5 weeks at

70% or 3 weeks at 75%
4 months lowly paid
Croatia
3 months, national average income
Czech Republic
24 months, 70% of pay* ^
Denmark
2 weeks, up to 107 Euros/day
32 weeks, 107 Euros/day*
Estonia
2 weeks, 100% paid ^
Share 14.3 months, 100% ^
Finland
9 weeks, up to 70% paid ^
Share 158 days, up to 70-75% paid* ^
France
2 weeks, wage-based ^
36 months, lowly paid*
Germany
Share 12 months, 67% of pay ^
Greece
2 days, paid by employers
4 months, unpaid
Hungary
1 week, 100% paid
Share 18 months, 70% paid ^
Iceland
3 months, 80% paid ^
Share 3 months, 80% paid ^
Country
Paternity Leave
Ireland
Italy
18 weeks unpaid
1 day, 100% + 2 days if mother
gives up from maternity leave
Share 10 months, 30% paid up to a

maximum of 7 months
12 months, 50% ^ + 2 months if
shared
Japan
Lithuania
Parental Leave
1 month, 100% paid ^
Share 6-8 months, 100% ^ + share 12

months, 70% + 12 mos. unpaid
12 months, 1778 euros/mo., parents
cannot take leave at same time
Luxembourg
Netherlands
2 days, 100% paid
26 weeks unpaid
New Zealand
1-2 weeks unpaid
14 weeks paid if transferred by the

mother + 38 weeks unpaid
Norway
2 weeks unpaid
10 weeks, 80% paid (transferred) +

share 18-28 weeks, 80-100%
Poland
2 weeks, 100% paid
Share 36 months, very low paid
20 days, 100% paid
75-105 days, 80-100% if transferred

+ 105-135 days 83-100% paid if father
home alone for at least 30 days + 3
months, 25% if mother not home
Portugal
Russia
3 years, 40% if mother surrenders it
Slovakia
3 years, 200 euros/mo. if mother surrenders it
Slovenia
15 days, 90% paid ^, + 75 days at

minimum wage
Share 260 days, 90% paid ^
Spain
15 days, 100% paid ^
12 months unpaid
Sweden
10 days, 80% paid ^
60 days, 80% ^ + 135 days, 80% ^ + 45

days low paid
U.K.
2 weeks, low paid ($220/week)
Share 26 weeks unpaid
U.S.
12 weeks unpaid
31
Appendix 2
In this appendix we explore in more depth the paternity and parental leave policies in seven different countries. We selected Iceland, Japan, Portugal, Slovenia, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the
United States to review, in order to provide a breadth of interesting newly developed policies as well as
more established policies.
ICELAND
In 2000, based on a strong government commitment to childrens welfare and gender equality in the
labor market and in the home, Iceland embarked on the worlds most ambitious attempt to promote
fathers participation in early childcare. They granted fathers the statutory right to the longest nontransferable family leave offered to fathers in the world and despite severe economic setbacks, this
program has become well-institutionalized in Icelandic culture and society.
Fathers statutory rights to paid leave in 2014
Family leave is financed by the Iceland government and by an insurance levy on employer payrolls.
Some unions have negotiated added compensation. Fathers have the same leave rights whether they
are married, cohabiting or not living with their childrens mothers; fathers in same-sex relationships
have the same rights as others. Leaves can be taken part-time or full-time until the child reaches two
years of age. Fathers can take leave at the same time as mothers and have access to two types of leave:
Paternity leave - three months paid at 80% of wages to a ceiling
Parental leave - the right to share with partners three additional months of parental leave at the
same compensation level.
History
32
Before 2000, public policy spending on families was far less than that in other Nordic countries. Parents had the right to six months of paid parental leave but the father could take 30 days of this leave
only if the mother signed over her entitlement. Left-oriented political parties, labor unions, employers
and feminists lobbied for more attention to be paid to the development of family policy that would
support the dual-carer/dual-earner model in Iceland. By 2000 all political parties were on board determined to promote more opportunities for children to be cared for by both parents and for both parents to reconcile paid work with family life. In 2000, a dramatically different parental leave system was
phased in over three years, 3+3+3, with three months of maternity leave, three months of paternity
leave and three months of parental leave to share. Iceland provided fathers with their own rights to
leave by gradually extending family leave from six to nine months, rather than taking away leave time
formerly awarded mothers. This was a much more popular alternative than that used in Sweden for
the first fathers month, where they reduced mothers leave by a month.
The 2008 economic crisis hit Iceland harder than other nations. This led to a temporary reduction in
the amount of wages fathers would be reimbursed (through lowering income ceilings) but it notably
did not reduce the governments resolve to encourage fathers leave-taking. By 2013, former compensation levels were reinstituted and a new law was passed that will gradually increase fathers paternity
leave length to five months by 2016.
Implementation
The spectacular effects of what nontransferable leave rights can do for fathers participation in leave is
strongly evident in the Icelandic case. Before 2000, almost no Icelandic fathers took paid family leave;
by 2001, over 80% did. By 2009, 96% took leave, for an average of 99 days (the highest in the world).
Fathers take one-third of all family leave days taken by parents, also the highest in the world. The most
usual pattern of leave-taking is for the parents to be home together the first month after childbirth,
and then mothers are home alone for two additional months before they return to work. At that point,
fathers tend to take their remaining two months of leave, although they are more likely than mothers
to take leave in more than one block. It is therefore typical that fathers are not home alone with solo
responsibility for young children for as long as fathers in countries where the policy permits less simultaneous leave-taking (e.g. Sweden).
Implications
The Icelandic example suggests that public policy can have a dramatic effect on the social construction
of fatherhood. Iceland, arguably more than other Nordic countries, has balanced a strong concern for
gender equality, work-family integration and childrens welfare, as the rationale for policymaking and
has prioritized public spending in support of these goals at an impressive level, considering their past
economic difficulties.
JAPAN
Japan is well-known as a nation where fathers work long hours to support mothers and children, in
support of a booming post-industrial economy. Since the turn of the 21st century, however, policymaking has taken a dramatic turn, in response to a plummeting birth rate. Policies now enable couples to
follow a new model of family life, where fathers work fewer hours and mothers, even of young children,
are in the labor market. By 2010, the government had established its third Plan for Gender Equality,
which includes specific goals for public sector fathers to take parental leave; the law also prohibits all
fathers from working more than 150 hours per year overtime. The government is taking an increasingly
assertive role in encouraging workplaces to be more responsive to working fathers. Annual surveys
are conducted on companies and individuals to trace progress in work-family reconciliation. Under
the Act on the Advancement of Measures to Support Raising the Next Generation of Children (2003),
employers are obliged to establish annual action plans for improving the employment environment to
support balancing work and child raising. The majority of employers now offer family-friendly benefits
to fathers as well as mothers, including 1-5 days of paid paternity leave, reduced and flexible work
hours.
Child care leave is financed by the employment insurance system, with contributions from employers, employees and the state. Some employers provide additional benefits; government benefits are
reduced if employer benefits exceed 80% of earnings. Fathers have rights to the following leaves:
Child care leave an individual right to 12 months of leave paid at 50% of salary to an income
ceiling; fathers can take this usually only in two periods 8 weeks during the mothers maternity leave and the remainder in one block until the child becomes 12 months old; fathers can also
use this leave to care for a sick child under 18 months of age or one who lacks childcare; they
can be home at the same time as mothers
33
Bonus child care leave two months of paid leave that can be taken until the child is 14
months old if the father has taken regular child care leave, also paid at 50%
Family care leave up to 93 days per child in their lifetime, to care for a child because of illness or injury for two weeks or more, paid at 40% of earnings
History
Unpaid child care leave was instituted as a family entitlement in 1992; leave became compensated at
25% in 1995, increasing in percentage over time; fathers could take leave only if the mother was back
at work. In 2010 paid childcare leave became an individual entitlement, allowing fathers to take leave
when mothers are home.
Implementation
Only 2% of fathers in the private sector and 4% of fathers in the public sector take child care leave.
Over half of fathers, however, take advantage of employer-provided paid paternity leave (1-5 days). Research shows that when fathers perceive more company support for leave-taking, they are more likely
to take child care leave. There is often a gap between companies formal and informal policies toward
fathers; only when fathers perceive there is informal support do they take leave. Fathers participation
in childcare is greater in small and medium size companies that offer accommodation to employees
in regard to their needs for family caregiving, while fathers in larger firms still face considerable work
pressure that reduces their involvement in family life.
Implications
The Japanese approach to providing fathers with paid family leave combines government benefits with
encouragement to companies to provide additional benefits. So far, fathers are more likely to take
advantage of employer-provided benefits, which provide them with much shorter leaves, but which
they might feel safe in taking since the employer obviously endorses the program. The government
continues to take steps to encourage fathers to take statutory child care leaves, focusing first on supporting men who work in government jobs. Efforts to enable fathers leave challenge the persistence
of a presenteeism work climate, which is deeply rooted in Japanese culture.
PORTUGAL
34
Portugal has not been as well known as the Nordic countries for promoting gender equality and the
development of a strong family policy. Nevertheless, since 2009 it has embarked on an ambitious
effort to actively promote womens full employment and fathers participation in early childcare with
a system that offers both a carrot and a stick. Portugal is one of the few countries to require fathers
to take paid parental leave after childbirth and offers bonus leave to couples where fathers are home
alone for part of the family leave.
Parental leave is financed two-thirds by contributions from employers and one-third by employees, all
paid into the Social Security system. Fathers have rights to several forms of leave:
Obligatory fathers only parental leave 10 days paid at 100% of wages with no income ceiling, five
days of which must be taken immediately after childbirth and the rest within the childs first month
Voluntary fathers only parental leave 10 additional days paid similarly taken within the
childs first month
Non-shared initial parental leave75 days at 100% to 105 days at 80% (depending on chosen
compensation level, with no income ceiling) but only if the mother relinquishes her rights
Shared initial parental leave the right to share 105-135 days of leave with mothers (compensated at 100-83%) if fathers take at least 30 days of parental leave to be home alone. This in effect offers parents a bonus 30 days of leave when they share leave, over the arrangement when
one parent takes all leave.
Additional parental leave 3 months of individual entitlement, paid at 25% of earnings if
taken immediately following initial parental leave; can be taken part-time or full-time. Both
parents cannot be compensated for this at the same time, creating an additional possibility for
fathers to be home alone caring for children.
Time off to care for dependents the right to share with mothers up to 30 days per year to
care for sick children 12 years of age and younger, and 15 days per year per child for children
ages 12-15, paid at 65% of earnings; also the shared right to take six months of leave per year for
four years, paid at 65% of earnings to care for a severely handicapped or chronically ill child.
Temporary leave the right to attend three pre-natal appointments and to visit schools four
hours per term.
History
Fathers first received the right to fathers only parental leave (once called paternity leave) in 1999 for
five days. By 2004 this period was made obligatory; the first nation in the world to do this. Today, the
obligatory length is 10 days; only Belgium and Italy obligate fathers to take parental leave (for 3 days
and 1 day respectively). Before 2009, fathers could share 2.5 months of maternity leave only if mothers relinquished it. Parental leave reforms in 2009 extended the length of leave that could be shared
and also provided an incentive for couples to share leave by extending it further by 30 days for parents
who share. The 2009 reforms occurred in the midst of an economic crisis with a center-right government, demonstrating how strongly supported the reform was.
Implementation
Before fathers only parental leave was made obligatory in 2004, only 36% of fathers took this form
of leave. By 2012, 81% of fathers took the obligatory portion of the leave with an additional 69% taking
the optional days. The lack of 100% participation is explained by security occupations being excluded
and the lack of close government monitoring. Mothers take most of the initial parental leave, but approximately 79% of fathers take the one month of leave alone that offers couples bonus time. Fathers
in 2011 took only 17% of the additional parental leave days.
Implications
The case of Portugal suggests that a quick way to accustom fathers to participate early in the care
of young children is to require them to take two weeks of fully paid parental leave in the month after
childbirth. This experience, along with offering parents bonus leave, seems to motivate fathers to take
additional time off from work. Portugal compensates fathers for leave-taking at a higher standard
than elsewhere in the world, which removes economic barriers to fathers staying home. Their parental
leave program, relatively brief in length, reinforces a pattern that is a strong policy goal: parents of
young children both working full-time. The Portuguese rate for families with children under age 3 is
66%, second highest in the EU.
35
SLOVENIA
Little known is the fact that Slovenia first offered fathers the right to share paid leave with mothers just
after Sweden (in 1975), therefore being among the first nations to do so. The same concerns that have
driven policymaking in the Nordic countries a concern for fertility and economic well-being have
also spurred legislative developments in Slovenia. Indeed, Slovenia was inspired to follow the Nordic
model, having benefitted from the visits of Swedish policymakers in the 1970s. However, unlike Sweden and Iceland, Slovenias policy tends to enable willing fathers to participate in early childcare rather
than actively encouraging them to do so.
Family leave is paid partly from a special fund for parental leave insurance with equal contributions
from employees and employers; however, this fund is sufficient to pay for only 11% of actual costs, so
the rest is paid out of the national budget.
Paternity leave 90 days, 15 days paid at 90% of earnings up to a ceiling (lowered during the
financial crisis) and an additional 75 days paid at the national minimum wage. 75 days can be
taken up until the child becomes 3. Leave can be taken in individual days rather than a block
but if so, the total amount is reduced to 75 (from 90).
P
arental leave the right to share 260 days of a family entitlement, part-time or full-time, until
a child reaches 8 years of age, paid at 90% of earnings up to a ceiling; parents ordinarily cannot take the leave at the same time unless they both work part-time or have two children below
eight years of age or children in need of special care. At least 185 days must be taken in a continuous block.
T
ime off to care for dependents the right to take 7 days of leave to care for a sick child (up to
30 days in extreme cases) for one illness, compensated at 80% of earnings with no ceiling.
History
36
Slovenia offered paid maternity leave to mothers as early as the 1920s. Unlike many other central
European countries, however, they have kept this leave relatively short, so that women are encouraged to return to the labor market. This helped to establish a structural and ideological foundation for
womens labor force participation and the dual-earner family. Fathers gained the right to paid paternity
leave in 2003, which has been extended in length over time. They gained the right to share paid parental leave with mothers in 1975 (up to 141 days); the leave was extended (to 260 days) in 1986.
Implementation
78% of fathers took up to 15 days of paternity leave in 2011; however, only 21% of fathers took additional paternity leave and only 7% of fathers took any part of the shared parental leave. There appear
to be several reasons for this low take-up. The Slovenia economy is characterized by precarious work
and work intensification, and the long-hours culture is well-established. This likely makes Slovenian
men hesitate requesting leave from work. Slovenians are likely to say work and earning money are the
most important things in life (rather than family) and half of fathers in a recent survey indicated that
they did not take parental leave because it would mean some lost wages. The dominance of work over
family and traditional attitudes toward the domestic division of labor appear to constrain mens interest in early childcare.
Implications
The vast majority of fathers take paid paternity leave in Slovenia, which can be seen as progressive for
a country characterized by traditional attitudes toward mens absorption in work and womens primary
responsibility for childcare. Fathers who would like to take more family leave have access to this but
there appears to be little social support for them to do so at this time.
SWEDEN
In 1974, Sweden became the first country in the world to offer fathers the statutory right of taking paid
leave from work to be with their families after childbirth and adoption. Today, Swedish fathers have
access to some of the most generous and flexible rights to parental leave in the world, where the goal
is to actively promote fathers taking leave from work to care for young children to develop strong relationships with children and to share parenting with mothers.
Family leave in Sweden is financed by a social tax on all employers payrolls. Some unions have negotiated added compensation. Fathers have the same leave rights whether they are married, cohabiting
or not living with their childrens mothers; fathers in same-sex relationships have the same rights as
others.
There are several types of father leave paid at approximately 80% of wages up to a generous income
ceiling:
Temporary leave 10 days off work to be taken within the first 60 days after childbirth or adoption.
Parental leave There are 480 days of paid leave per family that can be used up to the end of
the childs first school year. Sixty days are reserved for each parent and cannot be transferred.
Of the remaining 360 days, half are reserved for each parent; if days are transferred from one
parent to another, the parent giving up his or her days must sign a consent form.
Temporary parental leavethe right to share with partners 120 days of leave per year per child to
care for a sick child age 12 and under.
Care allowance the right to six months of compensation ($18,000) a year, to care for a chronically ill or disabled child.
History
Sweden offered fathers the right to take parental leave in 1974 at a time when policymakers were
concerned that women would be handicapped in the labor market if fathers did not participate more
actively in childcare. However, the right to share leave meant that fathers were obligated to negotiate
with mothers what had essentially been mothers exclusive right. Not surprisingly, relatively few fathers took leave under these circumstances. In 1995, a stronger law (following Norways) was enacted
that set aside one month for fathers to take leave that did not need to be negotiated with mothers and
which provided fathers some leverage in the workplace to request time off. In 2002, they extended this
to two months. Since 2008, to spur more sharing, the government provides a bonus up to $1900 to
couples where fathers take more than the quota.
37
Implementation
Fathers leave use has slowly increased; by 2013 75% took paternity leave, 88% took parental leave (average - 91 days), and in 2010 fathers took 36% of all days of temporary leave. In 2012, over half of new
parents received the equality bonus because fathers took more than their quota. When fathers take
more parental leave, they participate more actively in childcare; this positive result is likely a consequence of how the policy is structured except for one month when they can be at home with mothers, fathers are expected to be home alone providing solo care for young children. However, equal
sharing of parental leave is still far off; fathers take only one-fourth of all parental leave days and only
12% of couples shared leave equitably (60/40) for children born in 2003. While there has been very
substantial progress in changing cultural norms about men being active fathers, the workplace (especially in the private sector) remains an important barrier to fathers greater use of leave. Although
Swedish workers work fewer hours than most workers elsewhere, there are still norms around the
ideal worker that make it difficult for fathers to negotiate as much leave as they might otherwise like
to take. Co-worker and supervisor support remains only lukewarm, since companies fail to institute
more dramatic changes in work practices to accommodate leave-taking fathers.
Implications
The Swedish example provides strong evidence that fathers need well-paid leave that is their individual
right if they are to use it. The requirement that they need to be home alone caring for children also
likely provides fathers with valuable experience in childrearing so that they can more equally share parenting. Even when leave is a statutory right, company support remains a substantial barrier to fathers
leave use.
UNITED KINGDOM
38
Historically the U.K. lagged behind Western Europe in terms of cultural support for the dual-earner/
dual-carer model of family life. When the European Union (EU) proposed that unpaid parental leave
be mandated for member nations in 1983, the U.K. blocked this proposal. In 1991, the U.K. refused to
sign the Maastricht Treaty mandating parental leave because it disapproved of policy supporting mothers employment. It was at this stage in EU history that the community decided to become more active in terms of social policy designed to support a strong economic market and insisted that member
nations had to sign all agreements. In 1997, all member states signed the Amsterdam Treaty granting
three months of unpaid parental leave to both men and women workers as an individualized right.
This treaty governs all 27 EU nations today. Although the U.K. was pushed unwillingly into support for
the dual-earner family because of its membership in the EU, the U.K. in recent years is making small
advances toward enabling fathers to participate more in early childcare.
Paternity leave two weeks to be taken in a childs first two months, paid at $220 a week. Employers
are reimbursed by the government through the fund that employers contribute to for National Insurance Contributions. The vast majority of employers offer additional compensation; e.g., in 2009, 42%
offered full pay for at least two weeks. Larger companies are more likely to offer full compensation
than smaller companies.
History
U.K. fathers gained the right to paid paternity leave in 2003. Recent legislation has set the stage
for what in the U.K. is regarded as a dramatic change in fathers rights to parental leave. Currently,
mothers are entitled to 39 weeks of maternity leave paid at 90% of their average earnings for the first
6 weeks and thereafter at $118 a week. To allow fathers to play a greater role in childrearing, in 2015 a
more flexible form of parental leave is being established, called shared parental leave. Mothers may
transfer up to 37 weeks of leave to fathers (with the same pay structure as before). Fathers may take
leave only in week-long blocks of time (i.e., not on a part-time basis). Parents will be able to take leave
at the same time. One interesting feature of this system is that parents have access to keep in touch
days, whereby they can return to work for up to 10 days each while on parental leave without giving
up their leave so that they can stay informed about workplace developments.
Implementation
A 2009 survey revealed that 74% of U.K. fathers took some statutory paternity leave. Fathers were
more likely to take leave if they worked in the public sector or worked in private workplaces known for
having family-friendly arrangements.
Implications
After having a conservative approach toward supporting dual-earner families, the U.K. has recently
begun to provide more support for them in the form of paid maternity and paid paternity leaves.
Although the paid paternity leave offered fathers is modest, future plans to transform maternity leave
into parental leave that fathers can share promises to offer fathers more opportunities to be home
with children. U.K. policymakers have discussed but have so far rejected the concept of fathers having
individualized rights to paid parental leave. However, the fact that a fathers quota is even a matter
of discussion in the U.K. suggests that in time this nation may eventually follow its European neighbors in offering more support for fathers participation in early childcare.
UNITED STATES
National Coverage
In the U.S. the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) provides leave for a variety of reasons
including: childbirth or the care of a newborn child up to 12 months in age; for the placement and
care of an adopted or foster child; for the care of a seriously ill child, spouse or parent; or for a serious
health condition of the employee that makes him/her unable to work for more than three consecutive
days. FMLA covers all employees that work for covered employers (employ more than 50 people) and
that have worked for the employer for at least one year and at least 1250 hours over the past year. It
provides unpaid leave of up to 12 weeks in a 12 month period for men and women and it may be taken
in one continuous period or divided into several blocks of time.
Implementation
Because of the qualifying conditions, only about 58 per cent of workers in private firms are eligible for
FMLA, with lower coverage for low wage workers, workers with young children, and working welfare
recipients. About 80 per cent of working parents between the ages of 18 to 54 years have access to at
least some paid leave either through statutory provision, collective agreements or individual workplace
policies, especially older workers. But as FMLA does not include any payment, workers who are eligible
for the leave often do not take it. Thus though the law provides de facto parental leave entitlements,
studies have found that it has had generally small effects on leave usage by new mothers and little or
no effect on leave usage by new fathers. The fact that the law extended coverage but had so little impact on usage suggests that there are limits to the extent to which families are willing and able to use
unpaid leave.
39
State Coverage Paid Benefits

Over the last ten years, several states have stepped in to provide paid family leave benefits to mothers and fathers. Family leave is the concept of taking time off from employment in order to care for a
family member during a major life event, including a serious illness, the birth of a baby, or adoption or
foster placement of a child. The states listed below have enacted programs that provide paid benefits
to parents.
California was the first state to enact a comprehensive paid family leave law. Beginning in July
2004, the state provided all workers covered by the states Temporary Disability Insurance (TDI)
program with up to six weeks of a partially paid leave (55-60 per cent of earnings up to a maximum of $1,067 a week in 2013) following childbirth, adoption or care of a seriously ill child, parent, spouse or domestic partner. These benefits are funded by employee-paid payroll taxes, and
benefit levels are adjusted annually as wages increase. It costs a minimum wage-earner an additional $11.23 a year for this benefit, while the estimated average additional cost is $46. While
employers in California did not initially support the introduction of paid leave, employer surveys
conducted five years after the leave found that program initiation had no effect or a positive
effect on productivity, profitability, performance, turnover and worker morale within their organizations (Milkman & Appelbaum, 2013).
The Rhode Island Temporary Caregiver Insurance Program provides four weeks of paid leave for
the birth, adoption or fostering of a new child. The program is funded by employee payroll taxes.
It provides a minimum of $72 and maximum of $752 per week, based on earnings.
N
ew Jersey has also enacted a paid family leave. The legislation extends the states existing Temporary Disability Insurance (TDI) system to provide workers with up to six weeks of TDI benefits at two thirds of prior wages up to $584 a month in 2013, to bond with a newborn or newly
adopted child or to provide care for a seriously ill family member. The measure is financed by
employee payroll deductions that cost every worker in New Jersey a maximum of 64 cents a
week, or $33 a year, in 2009. All workers who contribute to the program have the opportunity to
draw benefits.
The State of Washington enacted a paid family leave law in March 2007, granting workers in
firms with 25 or more employees up to five weeks of paid leave annually to care for a newborn
or adopted child, funded by worker payroll contributions; however, this program has never been
funded or implemented.
40
Minnesota, Montana and New Mexico have active At-Home Infant Care policies providing lowincome working parents who choose to have one parent stay home for the first year of a newborn or adopted childs life, with a cash benefit offsetting some portion of the wages forgone.
A number of states are continuing to discuss possible paid family leave programs. Paid sick leave programs are also under discussion at both the state and city level.
References
Bratberg, E. and Naz, G., 2009. Does paternity leave affect mothers sickness absence? Working Papers in Economics No.06/09. University of Bergen.
Brighouse, H. & Wright, E. 2008. Strong gender egalitarianism. Politics & Society 36: 360-372.
Brown, G., Mangelsdorf, S. & Neff, C. 2012. Father involvement, paternal insensitivity, and father-child
attachment security in the first 3 years. Journal of Family Psychology 26: 421-430.
Cantor, D., Waldfogel, J., Kerwin J., McKinley Wright, M., Levin, K., Rauch, J., Hagerty, T. and Kudela,
M.S. (2001) Balancing the Needs of Families and Employers: Family and Medical Leave Surveys, 2000
Update. Rockville, MD: Westat.
Commission on Family and Medical Leave (1996) A workable balance: report to the congress on family
and medical leave policies. Washington, DC: Womens Bureau, U.S. Department of Labor.
Council of Europe Family Policy Database. http://www.coe.int/t/dg3/familypolicy/database/default_
en.asp
Duvander, A-Z & Haas, L., 2013. Country Note Sweden. In P. Moss (Ed.), Review of Leave Policies
and Related Research 2013. www.leavenetwork.org
Eydal, G & Gslason, I. 2013. Country Note Iceland. In P. Moss (Ed.), Review of Leave Policies and
Related Research 2013. www.leavenetwork.org
Eydal, G & Gslason, I. In press. Caring fathers and parental leave in prosperous times and times of
crisis. In Eydal and T. Rostgaard (Eds.), Caring Fathers in the Nordic Welfare States. Policy Press.
Family and Medical Leave Act in 2012: Technical Report. (2012), Abt Associates, 34-36. Retrieved from
http://www.dol.gov/asp/evaluation/fmla/FMLA-2012-Technical-Report.pdf
Gender Inequality Index 2012 http://hdr.undp.org/en/statistics/gii
Han, W.-J. and Waldfogel, J. (2003) Parental leave: The impact of recent legislation on parents leavetaking, Demography, Vol.40, 1: 191-200.
Han, W.J., Ruhm, C. and Waldfogel, J. (2009) Parental leave policies and parents employment and
leave-taking, Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, Vol.26, 1: 29-54.
Haas, L. 2012. Slovenian parental leave A Nordic perspective. Invited talk at the 9th annual
meeting of the International Network on Leave Policies and Research, Ljubljana, Slovenia. www.
leavenetwork.org/fileadmin/Leavenetwork/.../2012/S1f.Haas.pptx
Haas, L. 2004. Parental leave and gender equality: what can the United States learn from the European Union? Pp. 183-214 in H. Gottfried & L. Reese (Eds.), Equity in the Workplace. Lanham:
Lexington.
Haas, L. & Hwang, C. P.. 2009. Is fatherhood becoming more visible at work? Trends in corporate
support for fathers taking parental leave in Sweden. Fathering 7(3): 303-321.
41
Haas, L. & Rostgaard, T. 2011. Fathers rights to paid parental leave in the Nordic countries: consequences for the gendered division of leave. Community, Work & Family 14: 177-195.
Haataja, Anita (2009) Fathers Use of Paternity and Parental Leave in Nordic Countries https://helda.
helsinki.fi/bitstream/handle/10250/8370/FathersLeaves_Nordic.pdf?sequence=1
Harrington, B., Van Deusen, F, and Ladge, J.J. (2010). The New Dad: Exploring Fatherhood Within A
Career Context. Boston College Center for Work & Family. Research Report
Harrington, B. Van Deusen, F. , and Humberd, B. (2011). The New Dad: Caring, Committed and Conflicted. Boston College Center for Work & Family. Research Report
Harrington, B. Van Deusen, F. , and Mazar, I. (2012). The New Dad: Right at Home. Boston College
Center for Work & Family. Research Report
ILO: Maternity and paternity at work: Law and practice across the world (Geneva, 2014), available at:
www.ilo.org/maternityprotection.
Institute for Womens Policy Research Fact Sheet, Maternity, Paternity, and Adoption Leave in the
United States, May 2011
Ishii-Kuntz, M. 2013. Work environment and Japanese fathers involvement in child care. Journal of
Family Issues 34:250-269.
Johannson, E-A., 2010. The effect of own and spousal parental leave on earnings. Working Paper
2010:4. Uppsala, Sweden: Institute of Labour Market Policy Evaluation
Kamerman, S.B. and Waldfogel, J. (2013) United States country note, in: P. Moss (ed.) International
Review of Leave Policies and Research 2013. Available at: http://www.leavenetwork.org/lp_and_r_reports/
Lamb, Michael. 2010. The Role of the Father in Child Development, 5th edition. Hoboken, NJ: John
Wiley & Sons.
McKay, L. and Doucet, A. (2010) Without Taking Away Her leave: A Canadian Case Study of Couples
Decisions on Fathers use of Paid Parental Leave Fathering: A Journal of Theory, Research, and Practice about Men as Fathers, Mens Studies Press, 2010
42
Milkman, R. & Appelbaum, E. 2013. Unfinished Business Paid Family Leave in California and the Future
of US Work-Family Policy. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
Moss, P. (Ed.), 2013. Review of Leave Policies and Related Research 2013. www.leavenetwork.org
Nakazato, H. 2013. Country Note Japan. In P. Moss (Ed.), Review of Leave Policies and Related Research 2013. www.leavenetwork.org
Nakazato, H. & Nishimuro, J. 2012. Country Note Japan. In P. Moss (Ed.), Review of Leave Policies
and Related Research 2012. www.leavenetwork.org
Mrcela, A. & Sadar, N. 2011. Social policies related to parenthood and capabilities of Slovenian parents. Social Politics 18: 199-231.
OBrien, M., Koslowski, A., Moss, P. & Daly. M. 2013. Country Note United Kingdom. In P. Moss
(Ed.), Review of Leave Policies and Related Research 2013. www.leavenetwork.org
Osbourne, H. 2013 (November 29. How will shared parental leave work? The Guardian. http://www.
theguardian.com/money/2013/nov/29/how-will-parental-leave-work-q-a-mothers-fathers
Redshaw, M. and Henderson, J., 2013. Fathers engagement in pregnancy and childbirth: evidence from
a national survey. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, 13 (1)(70), pp.1-15.
Ross, K. (1998) Labor pains: the effects of the Family and Medical Leave Act on recent mothers
returns to work after childbirth, paper presented at the Population Association of America Annual
Meeting, Chicago, Illinois, April 1998.
Ross Phillips, K. (2004) Getting Time Off: Access to Leave Among Working Parents (Series B, No. B-57).
Washington, DC: Urban Institute, NSAF New Federalism.
Sjourn N., Beaum M., Vaslot V. and Chabrol, H., 2012. [Article in French]. Effect of paternity leave
on maternal postpartum depression. Gynecologie, obstetrique et fertilite, 40(6), pp.360-4
Stropnik, N. 2012. An introduction to Slovenian geography, population and history, and to Slovenian
leave policies. Invited talk at the 9th annual meeting of the International Network on Leave
Policies and Research, Ljubljana, Slovenia. www.leavenetwork.org/.../Leavenetwork/.../2012/S1a.
Stropnik.intro.ppt
Stropnik, N. 2012. Fathers take-up of parental leave in Slovenia. Invited talk at the 9th annual meeting of the International Network on Leave Policies and Research, Ljubljana, Slovenia www.leavenetwork.org/fileadmin/.../2012/S1d.StropnikKump.pptx
Stropnik, N., 2013. Country Note Slovenia. In P. Moss (Ed.), Review of Leave Policies and Related
Research 2013. www.leavenetwork.org
Ueda, Y. & Kurosawa, K. 2012. The effect of task, organizational, and family factors on taking parental
leave. Business and Management Research 1 (2) 113-119.
Waldfogel, J. (1999), The impact of the Family and Medical Leave Act, Journal of Policy Analysis and
Management, Vol.18, 2: 281-302.
Waldfogel, J. (2001) Family and Medical Leave: evidence from the 2000 surveys, Monthly Labor Review, September: 17-23.
Wall, K. & Escobedo, A. 2013. Parental leave policies, gender equity and family well-being in Europe.
Pp. 103-129 in A. Moreno Minguez (ed), Family well-being: European perspectives. Dordrecht:
Springer.
Wall, K. & Leito, M. 2008. Country Note Portugal. International Review for Leave Policies and
Research, Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, Employment Relations
Research Series No. 100
Wall, K. & Leito, M. 2013. Country Note Portugal. In P. Moss (Ed.), Review of Leave Policies and
Related Research 2013. www.leavenetwork.org
43
Boston College Center for Work & Family

22 Stone Avenue Chestnut Hill, MA 02467
Phone: (617) 552-2844 E-mail: cwf@bc.edu
On the web: www.bc.edu/cwf www.TheNewDad.org

The New Dad: Take Your Leave

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

The New Dad: Take Your Leave

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

The New Dad: Take Your Leave

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

THE NEW DAD:

Take Your Leave

Boston College 2014

Many thanks to EY for sponsoring this important research project,

Copyright 2014 Boston College Center for Work & Family

THE NEW DAD: TAKE YOUR LEAVE

THE NEW DAD: TAKE YOUR LEAVE

Global Spotlight: Sweden

Definitions of Important Terms

THE NEW DAD: TAKE YOUR LEAVE

Fathers Attitudes about Paternity and

How important is it to offer paid paternity or parental leave in the U.S.?

Chart #1: Importance of paid paternity leave

Global Spotlight: Slovenia

THE NEW DAD: TAKE YOUR LEAVE

How many weeks off do fathers actually take?

How do fathers decide how much time off to take?

THE NEW DAD: TAKE YOUR LEAVE

How important is it to be paid for the time off?

Taking child(ren) for doctor's visits

THE NEW DAD: TAKE YOUR LEAVE

What is the right amount of paternity/parental leave to offer to U.S. fathers?

Global Spotlight: Iceland

THE NEW DAD: TAKE YOUR LEAVE

THE NEW DAD: TAKE YOUR LEAVE

Benchmarking of Company Paternity

Paternity Leave Policies

Utilization and requests

Organizational Spotlight: American Express

Plans to modify policy

Ideal amount of time identified by HR Professionals

THE NEW DAD: TAKE YOUR LEAVE

Global Spotlight: Portugal

THE NEW DAD: TAKE YOUR LEAVE

Future plans for paternity leave

Other supports for fathers

Organizational Spotlight: Deloitte Dads, Deloitte Canada

Organizational Spotlight: Herman Miller

THE NEW DAD: TAKE YOUR LEAVE

Global Approaches and Policies

A Review of Global Approaches

Chart #9: Who Funds Fathers Parental Leave?

Chart #8: Paternity Legislation in 34 Countries

Statutory Leave with No Pay

Statutory Leave with <66% Pay

THE NEW DAD: TAKE YOUR LEAVE

Chart #10: The Percentage of Men Using Statutory Paternity Leave

Global Spotlight: Japan

THE NEW DAD: TAKE YOUR LEAVE

Summary and Recommendations

Recommendations for Fathers

THE NEW DAD: TAKE YOUR LEAVE

Recommendations for Organizations

Global Spotlight: U.K.

THE NEW DAD: TAKE YOUR LEAVE

Recommendations for Legislators

Definitions and Symbols

COUNTRIES THAT PROVIDE STATUTORY FATHERS LEAVE

2 weeks, minimum wage

Share 12-36 months lowly paid