Better deal for fathers on way in US

The United States could be on the cusp of changing its paternity leave laws to allow fathers to take paid time off to care for a newborn, and hoping to move up from last place in a ranking of 41 countries for parental leave laws.

US President Joe Biden's $1.75 trillion Build Back Better plan, which is now being debated in the Senate after being passed by the House of Representatives, would create a permanent, comprehensive national paid leave program.

Wall Street economists have said a version of Biden's plan will become law. They also said that the measure, which includes hundreds of billions of dollars in funds to fight climate change, will be another big deal for the US infrastructure sector following a $1 trillion public works law that Biden signed earlier this autumn.

New fathers and mothers could take four weeks of paternity leave starting in 2024 and will receive a percentage of their income starting at about 90 percent and scaling down for higher earners.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development ranked the US last out of 41 countries for its parental leave laws in 2019. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, just 23 percent of civilian workers in the US had access to paid family leave and 89 percent had access to unpaid family leave as of March.

The spotlight was put on paternity leave in October after US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg was widely criticized for using his leave to be with his babies.

Buttigieg and his husband welcomed twins in August. Buttigieg came under fire from conservative critics, including television host Tucker Carlson, for using paternity leave to bond with his twins.

However, Buttigieg defended his decision. "We're pretty much the only country left that doesn't have some sort of national policy on paid leave," he told CNN.

Impact assessed

Richard J. Petts, sociology professor at Ball State University in Indiana, has carried out extensive research on the impact of paternity leave on fathers. He believes that a federal paid family leave policy is desperately needed in the US.

"There are stigmas and penalties associated with taking leave within workplaces for both mothers and fathers … but fathers are also seen as violating gender norms (whereas mothers are abiding by the expectation that they are caregivers and prioritize family)," he told China Daily.

Research by think tank Pew Research Center found that at least 7 in 10 people in the US support paid time off for fathers.

Only five states currently mandate paid parental leave, including New York, California and New Jersey.

The Family and Medical Leave Act is the only existing federal legislation guaranteeing leave to parents. It gives 12 weeks of unpaid time off for both parents to care for a newborn, a newly adopted child or an ill family member.

But only employees who have worked 1,250 hours in the 12 months preceding the time off at a company with 50 or more employees qualify under the act. About 90 million people are covered under the act, but 44 percent of workers are not.