Give men more time
George Griffith: men are parents too and deserve a month's paternity leave.
Fri, July 23, 2010 - 12:00 AM
THREE days don’t cut it and one week is not adequate. Men are parents too and deserve one month for paternity leave.
Executive director of the Barbados Family Planning Association, George Griffith, made this call yesterday, charging that fathers are no less important in a child’s life than mothers.
According to Griffith, men need to bond, too.
“There is a level of adjustment that has to be made in parenting a new-born child. The woman is going to need some emotional and physical support.
“The man is impacted upon, as he too is bringing a child into this world even though he is not delivering the child. He is part and parcel of the process and there is an emotional and psychological impact on him.
“It is important for some bonding to take place between the man and his child in the same way we accept that there is bonding that must take place between mother and child,” he said.
Griffith was commenting on the disclosure by president of the Barbados Union of Teachers Karen Best, that the Union was seeking to have three days’ paid paternity leave for teachers whose wives/girlfriends were having a baby.
Since then, head of the Men’s Educational Support Association (MESA) Ralph Boyce, has said that three days were not enough and one week would be more adequate.
Griffith, a father of two, is at odds with both proposals.
“Both of them are off-course. A father should have at least one month to make that bond with mother and child. It’s not a favour being done to the men. It’s a fundamental right.”
The social development advocate said it was important that a mother had the constant presence of the father for some length of time to lend her support.
“There is so much that goes into the caring of a new-born child. When you are introducing that child into a household and there are other children there, the dynamics of that home will change and that is far too much to expect one woman to do.”
Griffith is disappointed that many businesses are reluctant to give fathers more time with their spouses and offspring.
“It’s unfortunate that some of us feel that a man has no right to be involved in such an intimate way in the development of children, but yet we castigate men when they appear not to be performing the role that we prescribe for them.
“The man must be in from the beginning and we must treat him as a part of this child’s life and it must not be any marginal or peripheral part.
“He must be at the centre of the child’s life. In the same way that we accept that a woman is entitled to three months maternity leave, then we have to treat a father with more fairness and social justice.” (MK)
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Griffith is perfectly correct every effort must be made to avoid the continued marginalisation of Barbadian men. They are much more than the “beast of burden” some women believe them to be. They are much more than the providers of “child money”. Gender equality dictates that they be treated equally. George is right on this one.
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Comment LinkHas any one looked at the economic impact of giving men a month off for paternity leave?
Furthermore, will this leave be given only to married fathers or to every man who is named as father? What about Bajan men who have 3 or 4 women pregnant simultaneously? Will their time off be consecutive or, like the sentences for multiple acts of crime, be concurrently?
Will the claims for time off be tied to the payments for child support, deadbeat paternity being the bigger problem in Barbadian society?
Barbados cannot afford many of the things it tries to copy from richer economies. Give the man a day or two to be with his wife, common law or otherwise, during the delivery. Then get him back on the job so he can earn money to support the child without being a drain on an already constrained National Insurance Scheme.
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Comment LinkIt is to be regretted that the worn out stereotype of Bajan men is still very much alive. Economic impact must be weighed against the long term emotional and psychological development of the child/family.The view that men usually have 3 or 4 women pregnant at the same time is an exception to the rule and does not mean that every man must be seen as irresponsible or permissive. In any case appropriate regulations should ensure social justice. Come on! this is the 21st Century.
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Comment LinkMr. Griffith is absolutely correct, we need at least a month of leave. Mr.A.A Fergusson’s has made some comments, that while they may be true, does not address the fundamental purpose of the leave issue.
Men need to bond with their children and, given the social ills that are currently so pervasive in our society, this piece of debate is right on time.
The idea about the economic impact on businesses, in time will pay off in the long run. We would see young men taking responsibility for their children. This will lessen the social cost that we currently bear, in our courts, social welfare, and prison costs.
This debate must continue, because this is what has been lacking for much too long in our society.
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Comment LinkI agree that men should be able to spend time with a newborn. They should be involved as much as the mother. However, small businesses cannot afford a paid leave of more than 3 - 5 days. This said, I have no objection to one week paid and then 3 weeks of unpaid family leave. This means the father’s job is protected under a Family Leave Medical Act (FLMA). #3 above referred to men having 3-4 women pregnant at the same time. I am quite sure paternity leave would be once every 12 months or so; therefore, I do not see anyone being able to abuse this act, unless they change jobs often.
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Comment Link... Pay for a man to stop home to bond with a child for a month?? I don’t think we are that “developed” as yet .. many other things to focus on.
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Comment LinkThe system gives the mother three months but one month is too much for the father. What a society we live in! Men are seen as mules! That’s it! Until the system recognises the role of the father you will continue to have deadbeats fathers and delinquent children. That will have a bigger toll on the economy in the long run that one month leave in the early stages of a child’s life ever could. If we as a society continues such a biased view we might as well start adding more cells at Dodds, both for the deadbeat fathers who wil continue to populate that institution for 42 days or whatever term the authorities may prescribe and for the delinquent offspring.
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Comment LinkToo long men were being taken for granted, so i’m all for men getting their share. We, women gets our due,and also without that powerful sperm we would not have a child to carry nine months.
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Comment LinkI do not know if Devaron Bruce was responding to my comment,if so, I certainly did not say to pay the father one month’s leave. I specifically said “3-5 days paid leave” and if needed “3 weeks without pay”. Of course,this can only happen if the parents know that they are financially situated enough to take advantage of this unpaid leave.
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