Paternity leave a responsibility

Paternity leave should be introduced in workplaces to encourage men to look after their newborns and wives and make them give up the traditional notion that caring for a child is the mother's responsibility, say two articles in the New Beijing Times. Excerpt:

Before this year's Father's Day, some scholars urged the government to include paternity leave in the social insurance system. More than 90 percent of the respondents to a recent opinion poll said male workers should get leave to look after their newborns and wives.

More men than women supported the idea, which means men are more eager to get that right. But the problem is that few of them understand that such a leave comes with responsibility.

Paternity leave is different from other leaves, for it is linked not only with the experience of welcoming a new life, but also with the responsibility of caring for the newborn and the mother. If a man really fulfills that responsibility, the leave would mean hard work for him.

But if he uses it only to relax, it would go against the very grain of introducing such a leave.

Traditionally, men employ a hands-off policy when it comes to taking care of children, and women shoulder the major responsibility even immediately after labor.

Paternity leave would give men the opportunity to take care of their families. The government and workplaces should provide systematic support for it and shouldn't consider it just an extra bonus.

The leave comes as a responsibility for men to care for the newborn and the mother, and gives them the chance to be a good father and a good husband.

(China Daily 06/23/2009 page9)