So, Lawmaker sin Nigeria recently rejected a Bill to legalise Paternity Leave on cultural grounds! They feared some Dads would end up demanding more than two weeks in the event that they had several children in a given year, considering that polygamy is alive and well in Africa’s most populous country! While I’m anti-polygamy, I’m not exactly offended that men not just in Africa but across the World don’t get time off when their partners have babies. In an ideal World, I guess it would make sense to have both parents in the newborn’s life right from the start but that is not the case for many families. In my opinion, Women need the time off more and I think it’s more important for the new mum to get Maternity Leave. The longer, the better. Newborns need their mums more for obvious reasons but there’s also the fact that mothers need as much time as they can to recover, especially if they had C-Sections so, whoever is pushing for leave should have mothers in mind. It’s also true that they need help around the house as they can’t do certain chores on top of watching their newborns so I guess Two Weeks off for the Dads would help but then again, I feel like that is too short a period. What happens once he goes back to work? You’re left by yourself and it’s back to square one. Why not work out a more lasting arrangement? Like getting a Nanny or Maid to help out because they’ll stick around longer and Dad can then focus on making sure the bills are taken care of, especially if he happens to be the sole bread winner, which is often the case. Diapers and Formula aren’t cheap, plus emergency hospital runs as happens in most families. I’d trade the two weeks for a responsible partner who cares about his Family and comes home as early as he can. And guys, don’t be that Dad who parties like you’re still Single. You need to bond with your child at some point and be around for the milestones because kids grow up so fast! You wouldn’t want to miss the first steps, words and any other strides your little one makes when you weren’t even at work! I think what employers need to do is make special arrangements for the Dads. For instance, a raise would go a long way in helping the family. And where possible, ease the new Dad’s workload. Most employees make Baby Announcements so employers should take this into account. If someone’s status changes, upgrade their Medical Insurance so they don’t have to worry about that and where you can, don’t assign them tasks that require them to go out of Town or the Country for that matter too often! If they ask for day off to attend an event at their child’s school, let them have it. Happy Dad, productive employee, I think!
