I have five small children and at times, I have struggled. There have been days where we have more "have nots" than "haves." However, having a large family is a beautiful thing with an investment for years to come. Herein, I will discuss life, things we have learned (or are dealing with) and also suggestions for others. Hopefully I can shed a male perspective on family life as well as other things a dude can encounter as a father.

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Paid Maternity and Paternity Time

The idea of a male in the work place being accredited with being a dad, more so than a pat on the back or congrats is hard to come by according to a recent article on Shine. The article looks at a work life balance of men in the work place vs. women and a combination of the two. The subject has been a nag to me for some time so I thought about taking a once over through the subject. During the creation of this article and post I have adapted some thoughts along the way. In addition I have updated the petition to reflect both parents since I see an overwhelming amount of emails that are also stating that unpaid maternity leave is also a concern. In creation I was looking from an egocentrical (self view). I have since adapted the petition and views to reflect both parents whom should have the ability and financial means to bond with a child at the time of birth.

Women perform a very hard task of carrying the child and then bringing it into this world. I would never discredit that physically a mother endures much more than any man will understand. However, I challenge that a mother and a father should be entitled to substantial amounts of paid time off to care for his or her young one for bonding time. The culture should consider that if the desired effect is a present man and or woman in a child’s life then the allowance needs to be made for that bonding time after birth. Not to mention that in today's world there are many single dads and mom’s stay at home dads. There are many more than when this type of legislation started and companies adopted the concepts. Imagine a family bonding after the newborn comes into this world vs. jumping right back into the hustle-and-bustle of the accepted normal demands. The US needs to update PATERNITY and MATERNITY leave statuses to reflect modern times and follow suit with other countries.

While the US does protect up to 12 weeks unpaid leave with the use of FMLA it does not guarantee any form of pay which at this point in parenting is essential in the event that the parents are not using any other forms of public assistance. 


Special interest groups challenge traditions all the time. Make a change. Visit the petition that I have started on www.Change.org. Start the movement HERE.





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