Should mothers and fathers receive the same parental leave?

December 7, 2008 6:10am CST
In UK at present mothers get 12 months maternity leave, paid for by the employer, fathers only get two weeks. Since children need both parents equally, do you agree that the parents should have equal paid leave and an equal chance to look after the children. Since so many children suffer through not having a father involved in their lives, maybe the fathers should get MORE time off than the mothers? What do you think? If you are a small business owner, perhaps you feel that these provisions have gone too far and hence you would refuse to employ a woman of child-bearing age?
1 person likes this
2 responses
Random28
@Random28 (158)
•
7 Dec 08
This is unfair. There is no evidence that mothers are better parents than fathers.
Shawchert
@Shawchert (1094)
• United States
7 Dec 08
I don't htink it is unfair (well the UK's rule of 1 year... it takes less than that to recover) Here in the US we have maternity leave for 6 weeks so we can heal up properly, men don't need that they don't have to go through that pain... so why should they need the leave? I can understand a few weeks to bond with the baby, but well, just see my post
Shawchert
@Shawchert (1094)
• United States
7 Dec 08
I should move to the UK then, we only get 6 weeks maternity leave here at the discression of our employers. and there was something about this a few years ago, and I don't know what happened to it, but to be honest I'm not sure. A child does need both parents but the main reason for our maternity leaves (the 6 weeks) is to heal properly after giving birth to a child. It takes a little longer for a woman with a c section (8 weeks). Men aren't the ones who have to deal with any of the pains down there or what not. I do believe if the mother decided to leave full and utmost care to the fathers hands he should be able to get a few extra weeks to get his life in gear. But I can see a lot of men using this as an excuse. Take my ex for example, He didn't help me at all with the birth of my son, or even the pregnancy. He could still use the fact my son was born to take that time off. I think it wouldn't be a great idea, maybe a few weeks, but not much more than that in my honest opinion.