Kenya, the Philippines, Columbia, Saudia Arabia… not necessarily countries you might associate with “progressive” views of gender. Yet all these country’s governments provide paid paternity leave.
Gender Watch
“When you know better you do better.” ― Maya Angelou
I find this article, and topic in general, interesting as my father was absent for most of my childhood due to work. I feel certain stereotypes for men hit home more than others, for example, some men really feel that the breadwinner role is the most important thing they can do, while others feel that the most important thing they need to do as a “man” is be the sturdy oak. If it became more socially acceptable that men were to be able to take off time and have paid paternity leave, I feel more men would take it and choose to spend more time with their children and families. As society is now, it almost comes across as being “unmanly” to take leave because in taking an unpaid leave, they would be abandoning those roles that they consider to be the qualities that allow them to call themselves men. In taking an unpaid leave they would not be the “breadwinner” or the “sturdy oak” for that time that they took off.