Parental leave is not exclusively for women and both parents should contribute equally. However, statistics show that in the majority of EU countries, there is a serious lack of participation as fathers do not ask for paternity leave.
A recent Eurobarometer survey shows that most men are failing to claim their right to parental leave. While the majority of men in the EU are aware they have a right to parental leave, many of them are not taking it.
The survey was carried out in October 2004 and 2,819 current or prospective fathers were polled across the EU-15 countries.
According to the study, 75 per cent of men living in the EU said they are aware they are entitled to parental leave but have never taken it and never intended to do so.
The main factors deterring fathers from staying at home to look after a small child are lack of information on childcare, fear that the leave will affect their career, or that it will have a negative impact on the family budget. Nineteen per cent of the respondents said childcare was considered to be a “feminine business” and still saw parental leave as more for women. Another 10 per cent feared they would be “stuck” at home and limit their social life.
Malta still has a long way to go. In 2003, 98 per cent of women took parental leave while the number of men who used their right to parental leave was two per cent – a slight advantage over the one per cent of Lithuanian men.
Nordic men seem to be more family conscious. In Iceland, over 80 per cent of men took parental leave in 2003, and 34 per cent in Sweden. Ten per cent of men took parental leave in Denmark.
Men who live in Luxembourg seem to refuse to take care of their newborn babies as not one man took parental leave and only about one per cent of men living in Germany, Spain, Ireland, Austria and Portugal have taken parental leave.
It is extremely important for men to take parental leave because they create a closer relationship with their children, and help ease the woman’s responsibilities and worries especially with the arrival of a newborn child. Later on, if household chores and care giving are not solely the woman’s responsibility, she can devote more time to her career and contribute to the family’s budget.
According to the Employment and Industrial Relations Act, unpaid parental leave is granted at birth, adoption or legal custody of a child to care for that child for a period of three months until eight. The employer and employee decide parental leave on a full time or part-time basis (as a piecemeal or time credit system). The same job or an alternative, equivalent employment is ensured on his/her return from leave. At the end of parental leave, the employee remains entitled to all rights and benefits as others at the same work place. The employer cannot dismiss an employee on the basis of parental leave usage. The employee has the right to demand a statement of parental leave taken.
In the public sector, both male and female employees can take one year unpaid parental leave per child, to care for the child below the age of four. They may also take a one-off three-year career break of unpaid leave to care for children below the age of five.
If only women take parental leave, employers will keep on focusing on pushing male employees up the career ladder and not bother with changing gender stereotypes.