“Loser” and “a little weird” were among the more printable reactions after Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg and his husband, Chasten, took their twins home. The onslaught neatly encapsulated the stigma that’s kept some working fathers from taking advantage of such family policies, despite the social and economic benefits.
Buttigieg, who adopted Penelope Rose and Joseph August this year and announced his leave in August, said in an interview with ABC News that some good came of the criticism because it started a conversation.
“We’re almost the only country left in the world that doesn’t have some kind of policy … and when parents take that parental leave, they need to be supported,” he said. “If there’s this idea that maybe men have access to paternity leave but it’s frowned on if they actually use it … that carries with it this assumption that the woman’s going to do all the work.”
The pandemic put the struggles of working parents at center stage. A child-care shortage has kept women in particular from rejoining the workforce and is dragging on job growth. Between February 2020 and February 2021, more than 2.3 million women left the workforce, bringing their participation rate to 57% — lower than at any time since 1988, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
While more men are taking advantage of parental leave when it’s available, the criticism that erupted over Buttigieg is a reminder that a stigma still exists. Only 62% of men take the full amount of leave for which they are eligible, compared with 93% of women, according to a 2019 study by the Boston College Center for Work and Family. Some men take only part of the time available.
How does paid paternity leave work?
While many countries provide paid leave for both parents after the birth of a child, the U.S. doesn’t, so it varies by state.
Nine states plus the District of Columbia have paid family-leave programs ranging from six to 12 weeks off, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center. Federal government workers, meanwhile, qualify for as much as 12 weeks paid leave.
In most states, employers decide how much leave to provide workers. That’s led to inequities, with mostly better-compensated workers getting paid time off.
What is the stigma around paternity leave?
Some men who have access to paid leave say they’re reluctant to take it. They worry doing so will damage their reputations, put them at a disadvantage for promotions and affect their earning potential.
A 2016 survey by Deloitte found that men were far more likely to indicate they didn’t plan to use paid parental leave, with one in three saying their jobs could be in jeopardy. Men who take paternity leave tend to lose status in the workplace, with employers questioning their commitments to their jobs if they take too much time off, according to research by Willamette University law professor Keith Cunningham-Parmeter.Money also figures into leave decisions. Men were more likely take longer leaves if their full salaries weren’t reduced, according to a 2019 paper from the Boston College Center for Work & Family. A study by the center in 2014 found that five out of six employed fathers said they wouldn’t take paternity leave unless at least 70% of their salary was paid.
— Tribune News Service
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