Throwing the Spotlight on Fathers' Care to Work

If anything COVID19 has been the great accelerator of established trends and patterns in our society The role and responsibilities of men in direct relationship to being fathers and what that means in theory and practice have been the Parental Leave Corporate Task Force39s role Established in 2019 the mission is to advance the notion that parental leave for dads and all caregivers are essential issues for corporate leadership Current members of the Task Force include Bank of America Deloitte Dove MenCare Facebook Promundo Twitter UNICEF Technical Advisor and Women Deliver With the publication of the report Putting Fathers39 Care to Work the Parental Leave Corporate Task Force makes a powerful argument that there has never been a more critical time to advocate for normalizing paternity leave The breakin quotnormalquot has presented an opportunity to chart a new path to gender equality and fathers shouldering their shareThe family39s benefits that come with fathers who are engaged and present have long been stated and statistics show that both children and fathers are better off Despite this overwhelming evidence the reality persists that fathers take much less leave than mothers even when legally mandated to take more For example The Helping Dads Care research project drawing on data from six countries found that fewer than 50 percent of fathers took the full amount of leave they were entitled to under their national policies while many took no leave at allThe reasons for this are complex but are often mired in the old ways in which organizations and society have chosen to organize themselves Both CarlosJavier Gil global brand vice president Dove MenCare and Gary Barker president ampamp CEO Promundo CoChairs of the Parental Leave Corporate Task Force recognize these structural and cultural impediments saying quotWe know that there are many benefits when fathers can take time from work to spend with their families and that it can have transformational effects on children families fathers themselves and society at largeHowever this can39t happen if fathers continue to face social and cultural barriers to uptake barriers that can keep them from being the fully involved caregivers they want to be and can be Too often even when the paid leave policies for dads are in place men are not taking the leave they39re entitled toquotWorking fathers can often find themselves facing 1 economic constraints due to uneven organizational paternity leave policies 2 gender norms that imagineFathers as only financial providers and 3 concerns about career penalties and backlash at the workplace from taking leaveVoices advocate for parental care specifically and making the connection to a holistic conversation on men39s role in society has in general been gaining more momentum Media Ecologist and Founder of MediaVillage Jack Myers penned The Future of Men Men on Trial in 2016 This book opens the conversation of how wrestling all the ways our notions of masculinity and quotbeing a manquot manifest and how crucial it is to making headway on parental leave for male caregiversThere is so much to unpack in our understanding of male labor How this conversation handles disparity in economic backgrounds and the type of work we evangelize is part of the puzzle Whitecollar workers have long enjoyed more leeway than those in socalled quotbluecollarquot and service industries COVID19 has made those disparities more apparent as essential workers don39t have the option to work from home In those cases childcare is an even more massive challenge as the pandemic is just one more structural gap with profound implications Widening the advocacy in studies like Putting Fathers39 Care to Work will only become more critical as more voices and perspectives are included While changing hearts and minds around parental leave for dads everyone must make sure no dads are left behind in the conversationThis comprehensive report is a muchneeded addition to ongoing conversations about both the future of men and what new shape parental leave should take on Hiding behind the outdated ways of thinking about men as caregivers is no longer going to work As difficult as it might be to bring forth a new more inclusive reality a bit more of the roadmap has been unearthedClick the social buttons to share this story with colleagues and friendsThe opinions expressed here are the author39s views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNetamp160

SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE MEDIAVILLAGE CONTENT | BECOME A THOUGHT LEADERSHIP CONTRIBUTOR

Throwing the Spotlight on Fathers' Care to Work

Author

Publish date

Channel

Philip McKenzie

FEMA and the Ad Council Encourage AANHPI Communities to Enhance Disaster Preparedness in New PSAs - Ad Council InSites

More Videos:

SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE MEDIAVILLAGE CONTENT | BECOME A THOUGHT LEADERSHIP CONTRIBUTOR

Throwing the Spotlight on Fathers' Care to Work

Enjoying This Commentary? There's More to Love

Philip McKenzie

TAGS:

FEMA and the Ad Council Encourage AANHPI Communities to Enhance Disaster Preparedness in New PSAs - Ad Council InSites

Cookies