…6 months maternity leave also being mulled
By Tajeram Mohabir
MEN might well be in for two sets of good news when their wives are set to deliver babies; and this is because Public Health Minister Dr George Norton is developing a white paper to be taken to Cabinet that would afford men some quality days off during the momentous occasion of childbirth.
He is hoping that the forward-looking policy gets the unalloyed blessing of Cabinet. This policy paper intends to increase the maternity leave time for women from three months to six months; and during this time, the husband or partner of the pregnant woman would also be entitled to leave.
Indications are that the father of the child might not get a full six-month vacation, but would be entitled to some pay while he is legitimately off the job. Paternity leave generally allows men to get more directly involved in child care, get a break from work, gives their wives a break from child-rearing, and change the perception of dads.
Dr Norton told the Guyana Chronicle he hopes that when the policy paper is taken to Cabinet, he gets the unequivocal support of his colleagues, especially the lone female Ministers Cathy Hughes and Volda Lawrence.
Should Guyana greenlight the paternity leave, this country would be the latest addition to the long list of countries which have implemented similar measures. In Belgium, men get 10 days’ leave when their wives are at the stage of childbirth. In France, they get 11 days; in Denmark, 14 days; in Spain, 15 days; in Finland, 54 days; in Sweden, 60 days; in Norway, 70 days; and in Iceland, 120 days.
According to Forbes Magazine, today, 70 countries around the world provide paid paternity leave for fathers.
Duration differs
The length of time offered and the average payment level differ drastically between countries, according to the World Economic Forum, based on an Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) report. That report noted that even though South Korea and Japan offer dads the most paid time off from work, very few men avail themselves of it, because of cultural perceptions that raising a child is primarily the mother’s task.
Forbes Magazine has said that while fewer than two per cent of fathers in Japan and South Korea take paternity leave, 89 per cent of dads take time off in Sweden. The news report also pointed out that in countries where the paternity leave on offer is relatively short and well paid, more fathers tend to avail themselves of its use.
Dr Norton has said he fully supports men getting some leave with pay when their wives are about to deliver babies. The minister says he has been advised by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and several other international organisations that Guyana should move in that direction.
Progressive step
“It is a progressive step forward,” the minister told this publication.
But the extension of maternity leave from three months to six months might negatively affect productivity, especially if the impending mothers are in the employ of the public and private sectors.
“No so,” said an adamant Dr Norton. He pointed out that “pregnant women need the time to breast feed the child, properly nurture the child, (and) to adequately recuperate and take care of themselves”.
For the Public Health Minister, the white paper he will take to Cabinet is part of a wider plan to build a nation of strong and healthy adults and children.
“It would not really be a loss of productivity. A woman returning to work, who has given birth and hasn’t fully recovered from the stress and strain, would not function well. This would affect productivity, plus it would aggravate her condition. With a woman who has fully recovered, the situation will be different, so it is not really a loss of productivity if the maternity leave is extended. It is more (a case of) of providing the requisite support for our women so that they can function well, and this no doubt will certainly increase productivity in the work environment,” Dr Norton contends.
