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Rate of Aussie dads taking paid paternity leave continues to stay low: report

Xinhua, March 4, 2016 Adjust font size:

Just one in 50 Australian fathers are taking the option of paid paternity leave, a figure well behind the rate of other leading Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) nations, a report has said on Friday.

Australian men are granted just two weeks of paid paternity leave, something experts have said could be a reason for the lower participation rate.

The OECD report found that up to 40 percent of men are taking paternity leave in nations such as Portugal and in Scandinavian countries, and La Trobe University's Dr Amanda Cooklin said it was a positive sign for other nations' policymakers to encourage greater male participation..

She told Fairfax Media that there was still a stigma in Australia that the man was the "breadwinner", and shouldn't be called upon to take paid paternity leave.

"Fatherhood is still synonymous with being the breadwinner. Many individual men really want to change this, but our workplaces haven't shifted to accommodate that," Cooklin said on Friday.

Further to that, Australian dads are currently allowed just two weeks of paid paternity leave, well short of nations such as Korea and Japan, which allow for up to 53 weeks of leave for new dads.

The University of Melbourne's Professor Beth Gaze said it was on Australian policymakers and employers to get up with the times and offer suitable paternity leave for fathers as well as mothers.

"Unless the employer is very supportive and makes clear there will be no professional repercussions, men become unwilling to ask," Gaze told Fairfax Media.

The OECD research also found that dads who took time off for paternity leave found benefits from it later in life.

"Fathers who care for children early tend to stay more involved as children grow up," the report said. "Where fathers participate more in childcare and family life, children enjoy higher cognitive and emotional outcomes and physical health."

"And fathers who engage more with their children tend to report greater life satisfaction and better physical and mental health than those who care for and interact less with their children." Endit