Should Paternity leave = Maternity leave?

Bottle_of_Smoke

You always hear reports showing men still earn more money than women & occupying more senior management positions.

Then that women in senior management tend to have fewer kids etc.

If men got 7-8months leave when fathering a child there'd be no reason to discriminate between men & women for big positions.

Could also help the man bond with his child better

Should employers offer/be required to offer this leave?

stovelid

Bottle_of_Smoke wrote: »

You always hear reports showing men still earn more money than women & occupying more senior management positions.

Then that women in senior management tend to have fewer kids etc.

If men got 7-8months leave when fathering a child there'd be no reason to discriminate between men & women for big positions.

Could also help the man bond with his child better

Should employers offer/be required to offer this leave?

I'm not sure that the discrimination comes from the amount of time given for maternity leave, more the conception that women may be less inclined/able to pay as much attention to their careers when they have children.

As for paternity leave, I'd love it, but as you know, there is no statutory leave for dads here.

johnnyskeleton

It is important to distinguish between maternity leave and parental leave (often times they are treated as synonymous).

Both parents should be entitled to parental leave (e.g. time to be with their kids at various stages, including when the kids are sick), but men should not be entitled to an equivalent of maternity leave, much of which is concerned with the late stages of pregnancy and the early stages of breast feeding etc.

Usually, after maternity leave, women are given the option of taking parental leave (sometimes called additional maternity leave) at a reduced rate of pay.

I think flexi time is the way to go.