A 2021 article on mckinsey.com titled “A Fresh look at Paternity Leave: Why the benefits extend beyond the personal” highlights that “Fathers who take leave help their partners, their families, and themselves. In this era of employee mental-health challenges, companies should take notice.” Newly-appointed Twitter CEO Parag Agarwal chose to take his paternity leave. It’s a move that has been hailed by many corporate leaders as setting the right precedent and putting in place more supportive environments at offices.
“Fathers today generally do take around a week of paternity leave, but that’s not nearly enough. The fear to take more arises from the fact that such leave has often traditionally been frowned upon. We need mindsets to change if we want more gender diversity at workplaces. Men should be expected to co-parent. There is an unsaid culture which often prevents men from taking such leave,” says CEO and Founder at The 7th Fold HR and Wellbeing consultancy firm Hamsaz Vasunia, also mum to a six-month-old.
A lack of paternity leave laws
While India does have a Maternity Benefit Act addressing the leave female employees can take on giving birth, policies relating to how much leave a new father can take are largely absent. In this regard, companies are seen taking individual decisions on how much leave to give their male employees.
In June 2019, Zomato was one of the first Indian companies to take the lead in this sphere. In a tweet, company CEO Deepinder Goyal recognised that not only maternity, but paternity leave is equally important. “For women across the globe, we will be offering 26 weeks paid leave or will follow the government-mandated policy, whichever is more. We will be offering the same benefits to men as well. There won't be even an iota of difference in parental leave policy for men and women at Zomato going forward,” Goyal stated. “I believe that young parents should be able to choose how to care for their children. And that a myopic view of primary caregiving not only alienates one half of our workforce, but also creates circumstances that lead to fewer female leaders within organisations, the community and the nation,” he added.
Hence the implications of corporate leaders like Agarwal taking leave are much wider and cover gender equality and women being recognised as important members of the workforce, who need to be supported.
Mums welcome the decision
The allowing of paternity leaves is coming as welcome news for new mothers. With their partners by their sides, caring for the newborn is becoming a little less stressful.
“Agarwal taking leave is good messaging and this idea needs to become more mainstream. I think some of the long-lasting benefits of such leave is that employees are happier and they perform better at the office. After the leave period is over they bring fresh energy back to the workplace. Also at the domestic level, a child, whose growth and learning is exponential within the first six years, starts to develop a bond with its father. There is an umbilical connect that develops in those first days. A degree of involvement sets in, where fathers are seen changing diapers and taking their kids to school,” says ‘mompreneur’ (mother and entrepreneur) Monisha Narke.
However, is it only renowned fathers who can take leaves? For example, Parag Agarwal or Virat Kohli, who took leave when his wife Anushka Sharma gave birth. Can the benefit extend to all new fathers, without being stigmatised? Emphasising that raising a child is teamwork Narke adds, “One must acknowledge that a woman can’t do everything. She has to ensure she is healthy too so that the baby is healthy. When fathers receive such leave they can mentally and emotionally support their spouses along with being there for their newborns.”
Parenting and couples coach Dr Meghna (@thetherapistmommy on Instagram) agrees that it’s about time that people grow out of the mindset that raising a child is primarily a mother’s job. “There are several things to do from diaper changing, breastfeeding, to even imparting a value system to your kids. Two available parents are better at raising more well-rounded kids and adults; the next generation of leaders. The seeds for this are sown in childhood. Both parents together are better at imparting cherished values such as hard work and honesty. Men, hence, need to make a conscious decision to be there for their kids,” says Dr Meghna.
Growing self-care among women
Psychologists speak about the element of self-compassion being lower in women as compared to men. Women tend to neglect themselves because it has been instilled amongst them that family comes first. Paternity leave helps send the message that women can take time out and re-focus the attention back on themselves, their well-being, and their goals.
“Taking paternity leave provides a lot of gratitude and respect to your spouse, reducing any conflict among couples, and enabling one another to make mistakes, moving towards the growth of the family as a whole. Psychological well-being and harmony in relationships increase. We know for a fact that women are less self-compassionate than men. Paternity leave will enable women to take care of themselves, their own goals, and look beyond just being caregivers. The sharing of responsibilities also helps address long-standing anger issues that women often have,” says psychotherapist Shrraddha Sidhwani.
Swedish dads show the way
An exhibition by photographer Johan Bavman called Swedish Dads presents images of a small fraction of dads who chose to stay at home with their children for 6 months or longer. The exhibition shows their experiences, and how they spent quality time with their kids. A note about the exhibit says, “The photographer’s aim was to illustrate Sweden’s unique parental policy (more progressive than other countries around the world). And secondly to inspire other fathers – both in Sweden and further afield.” From bathing their kids to feeding them to vacuuming while their kids are attached to their backs, the pictures highlight that there’s no shame in doing all of this and more. The exhibition which has been shown in nearly 65 countries was also shown at Mumbai’s Kala Ghoda Festival in 2019 and is one example of how dads can make more empowering choices for themselves and others.
“The man can take time off from just being identified by his work, time off from stereotypical masculine roles of just being the financial provider. Paternity leave also helps to release the guilt that men often have because they have to focus on work and aren’t able to spend more time with their children,” shares Sidhwani.
