How Paternity Leave in America Compares
Posted on 18 August 2008 by Jeremy
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Paternity leave is the time a father takes off from work to spend at home with his family upon the birth of a new child. Prior to 15 years ago, when the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 was passed, fathers in America rarely took time off from work to take care of a new child. Today, fathers have a legislated right to take this type of leave, and more fathers are taking advantage of this right to be there when the baby comes home.
A 2001 study at Columbia University found that 89% of families surveyed had fathers who took some time off from work after the birth of a child. The majority of fathers took less than one week off, while a third took two weeks or more. It’s no surprise that fathers with more skilled jobs and higher levels of education took more leave, as they could more easily afford to take unpaid leave. Still, the numbers are an encouraging indicator that dads want to be more involved in child rearing.
How does Paternity Leave in America compare to the rest of the world?
Here’s some comparison information by region (full chart here):
| Country | Paid Paternity Leave | Unpaid Paternity Leave | Restrictions |
| United States | 0 | 12 weeks | To be covered under FMLA must work for a covered employer for at least 12 months prior and 1250 hours during that time. Other restrictions apply |
| Cameroon | up to 10 days | ||
| Tanzania | 5 days full pay | ||
| Bahamas | 1 week | ||
| Brazil | 5 days | Article 10, Paragraph 1, Temporary Constitutional Provisions Act | |
| Canada | Up to 35 weeks | Leave shared with mother; 55% of pay up to $413/week | |
| Columbia | 4-8 days | Law 755 | |
| Cambodia | 10 days | ||
| New Zealand | up to 38 weeks | Fathers share unpaid leave with mother | |
| Philippines | 7 days | ||
| Belgium | 10 days | 3 days are compulsory | |
| Finland | 18 days, then 158 day shared w/ mom | ||
| France | 15 days | Share of 104 wks w/ mom | |
| Germany | 2 mnths | Share 156 wks w/ mom | Must have private health insurance for part of paid leave, rest paid by employer |
| Ireland | 0 | 16 wks shared w/ mom | |
| Italy | 13 wks @ 80% | 26 wks max; combined max w/ mom 44wks | For paid leave, job contract must include social contributions (INPS) |
| United Kingdom | 2 wks @ £112.75 | 13 wks | Must have worked for employer for more than 1 year and child must be under 6 yrs |
| Norway | 45 wks @ 80% or 35 wks @ 100% shared with mom, but dad must take 6 wks else paid leave for these 6 lost | 2 wks after birth, plus have right to take 1 full year off | To gain the right of paid leave, the parent must have worked for 6 of the last 10 months before birth, or the leave is unpaid (except for a lump sum benefit from the government) |
| Sweden | 480 days (16 months) (80% up to a ceiling the first 390 days, 90 days at flat rate) – shared with mother (minimum 60 days) + 10 working days in connection with the child’s birth |
As you can see from the chart above, the Paternity Leave policy in America is better than some countries and worse than others. A few, like Germany, Italy, Norway and Sweden, have extremely progressive options available that seem to encourage dads to take time off to care for their children. The Columbia University study suggests that fathers who take more than 2 weeks paternity leave are much more likely remain engaged and involved in child-care responsibilities after they return to work.
Most countries around the world do not have legislation that specifies a father’s rights in this regard, so having the FMLA in America is certainly a benefit at least in terms of providing dads with a protected option to take leave.
In 2004, California was the first state in America to offer both moms and dads paid family leave with 55% pay for up to 6 weeks off. Oregon, Vermont and Washington D.C. are also considered to have ‘dad friendly’ leave policies. According to the Proggressive States Network, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey and Washington are also working on paid family leave legislation as well.
In most cases, the opportunity is there for American fathers to take some kind of Paternity Leave – paid or unpaid – after the birth of a child. Studies show that taking time to bond with a new child is beneficial for dad, the baby and the family, and while it’s encouraging to hear that 89% of dads take some time off, I can’t help but wonder what the benefits would be to American society if that same number of dads could take two weeks or more off of work to be engaged and involved in taking care of their kids.
Here’s an interview Dana Glazer from Evolution of Dad did with Dr. Kyle Pruett about the benefits of involved fatherhood (if you can’t see video below, click here for to view):
As fathers, we play an important role in the growth and development of our children, starting from the day they are born. Not every dad has the opportunity to take leave to spend with his family, usually due to financial reasons or working for a company that doesn’t meet FMLA requirements.
Regardless of circumstance, every dad should fight to protect and expand the right of dads to take Paternity Leave without penalty, and perhaps one day in the near future America will be in that small group of progressive countries that understands the value of dads being involved in their kids lives from birth.
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Tags | childcare, dad, family, Family Medical Leave Act, Fatherhood, FMLA, Paternity Leave
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August 18th, 2008 at 4:56 am
Wow. That’s a really useful article, Jeremy. I actually thought that the USA’s leave policy was worse than it was, but it’s nice to know that I’m entitled to some leave time when we have kids.
I’m going to ask around my office and see what other guys have done with their kids when they were born.
August 18th, 2008 at 1:50 pm
I consider myself lucky. I got 4 weeks of paid paternity leave and I have an extremely generous company that understands I need to leave early and go to Dr’s appts.
August 18th, 2008 at 3:23 pm
The DadLabs crew was in Stockholm back in June to check out the paternity leave system there, and we were blown away. All you have to do is sit on a street corner and watch the number of dads pushing strollers to understand the cultural impact of these policies. When we started running the videos we shot there, we got quite a bit of “it can never work here.” But at least we should be having the conversation. Great post and site. Bookmarking.
August 18th, 2008 at 3:51 pm
I have always worked for companies that have provided for unpaid leave for family, birth of children. Consequently, I have never been able to afford to take advantage of that. It was very frustrating.
I remember once, when a child was born, being asked by my supervisor if I was going to take any time off. I laughed openly. He said that the leave was available. I told him that it was, in fact, available, but only to those that could afford to lose the day’s pay.
MRKH
August 18th, 2008 at 3:58 pm
Clay – I saw that video post of DadLabs in Stockholm, and it was very inspiring to me to hear the interviews of dads and what it meant to them and their families to have the time off.
Mark – that’s too bad man. More companies in America need to offer some paid leave, if only a few days, for dads. It does make a positive difference.
August 19th, 2008 at 1:40 am
Great work here, Jeremy! I really loved the chart and will definitely give you a return plug.
Paternity Leave is such an important first step in terms of getting dads more involved. What’s somewhat shocking, however, is how, even when companies have paid leave policies in our country, more often than not (at least from my interviews) the dads don’t take full advantage of it. For those employed in higher positions it’s often less about making more/less money and more about concern over showing less of a commitment to their employers and their clients and their inability, real or perceived, to delegate their responsibilities to other fellow employees during the leave. There’s also a cultural component as well in the sense that many men see themselves still at this point as having their breadwinning role remain paramount and any threat to undermining that would make them less of a man. The degree to which a dad feels strongly about pushing for getting to know his child and the encouragement of his partner are also things to consider.
Looking forward to reading more on this site, Jeremy. Keep up the fire and thanks for including a clip of my project in the mix.
Best,
Dana Glazer
Director
The Evolution of Dad Project
http://www.evolutionofdad.com
August 19th, 2008 at 11:11 am
the situation in the uk is as above, 2 weeks at £112. I can not believe the US gets nowt !! A lot of people moan at the UK saying you have to wait on the state paid NHS health lists etc, but at least it is free, or maybe that is the british way, we like to queue, and wait for things, but for America this is shocking !
October 8th, 2008 at 5:37 am
Jeremy,
What is your last name? I would like to cite your article in a paper. Thanks!
October 9th, 2008 at 2:22 am
My name is Jeremy Biser. Thanks.
April 15th, 2009 at 3:06 pm
Hey, nice tips. Perhaps I’ll buy a bottle of beer to that person from that forum who told me to go to your blog