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Parenthood: Share and Care

Part of the problem associated with low participation is that women often tend to exit the workforce after childbirth

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Paternity leave allows fathers to become partners in child care besides building stronger family bonds and enabling more women to return to the workforce after childbirth, says  Aarif Aziz, Chief Human Resource Officer, Diageo India. 

In April 2017, the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act came into force in India. It made changes to the Maternity Benefits Act of 1961 by extending maternity leave for women with less than two surviving children to 26 weeks from 12 weeks besides mandating other benefits

The new law has been rightly held as a far-sighted and progressive piece of legislation, in tune with modern thinking and values. It was also hailed as a step in the right direction to arrest the alarming fall in Indian women’s participation in the workforce, which has dropped from 34.1 percent in 1999–2000 to 27.4 percent in 2015–16.

Part of the problem associated with low participation is that women often tend to exit the workforce after childbirth. The changes in the Maternity Benefit Act were made partly to address this, apart from, of course, the goal of greater welfare of the mother and the child. However, this addresses only part of the problem. There is another powerful opportunity that also needs to be leveraged- paternity leave.

Astonishingly, given the progressive nature of our laws relating to women’s empowerment, India is one of the 91 countries in the world where the law does not mandate paternity leave. While government employees get two weeks of paternity leave, there is no legal provision making it compulsory for private sector employers to provide this.

Research has shown that fathers’ involvement in infant care has several beneficial effects to the development of the child, the relationship between the parents and – perhaps counter-intuitively – on mothers returning to the workforce after childbirth. 

Research by Oslo University has established that kids whose fathers took time off to care for them during infancy, showed improved performance during school. Another study in Australia, Denmark, the US, and Britain has shown how paternity leave tends to positively influence a father’s behaviour when children are young and this involvement, in turn, translates into positive child cognitive and behavioral outcomes.

Caring for a newborn baby is a tough job, especially in nuclear families, quite prevalent these days. Without paternity leave, this burden tends to fall, almost exclusively on mothers. This mindset of the woman being the sole caregiver for the infant, apart from being sexist, also has an adverse impact on the relationship between the parents. Research has shown that the chances of a mother sliding into a post-pregnancy depression are significantly reduced if the father also takes time off from work to shoulder the burden.

The other important impact of paternity leave is on the mothers’ careers. If the father also takes time off to take care of the baby, then it allows the mother to return to work much faster than would be the case otherwise.

Paternity leave also benefits employers. Studies in various countries have shown that fathers who felt that their employers supported them as parents were more likely to be engaged with their jobs and to stay in them longer. These fathers felt that the parenting perks provided a stronger incentive to stay with the company than increased salary did.

The Indian alco-beverage industry has been a traditionally male bastion. When Diageo took over the management of United Spirits Limited, only 7.5 percent of our employees were women. Today that figure has risen to 16 percent. But that still leaves 84 percent of our workforce that cannot avail of paternity leave to partner their spouses in childcare. This is particularly important for Diageo since almost half of our white collar workforce is under the age of 35 when new parenthood is most likely.

It is with this in mind and in keeping with Diageo’s global inclusive principles that Diageo India recently introduced four-week paternity leave for our employees. The idea is to make Diageo an energizing place to work, one that is inclusive and progressive. We know that flexibility at work is proven to create a happier, more loyal and more productive workforce. The idea is to support our colleagues to experience the joys of parenthood while continuing to thrive at work and achieve their true potential.

Absence of a law that mandates paternity leave reflects a patriarchal mindset that assumes that looking after children’s wellbeing is only the mother’s responsibility. This should be anathema in today’s New India. After the Maternity Benefits (Amendment) Act became the law in 2017, a private member’s bill was tabled in the parliament to enact a similar law for paternity benefits. As India continues to evolve socially and economically, there is a tremendous opportunity for us to first change the outlook at homes….my dear fellow men, let's create a better balance!

Disclaimer: The views expressed in the article above are those of the authors' and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of this publishing house


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diageo Maternity Bill workforce Paternity Leave

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