CALL FOR MEN PATERNITY LEAVE

MBABANE- “Grant men paternity leave.”

These sentiments were articulated by Founder and Executive Director of Kwakha Indvodza Tom Churchyard. Churchyard mentioned that paternity leave might boost a father’s relationship with his child and allow him to experience the joy of being a new father. He said men’s hormones could shift both before and after a child’s birth, and that there was existing new evidence that fathers’ brains reflected the transition to parenthood as well. He said paternity leave was the right of a father, partner of a pregnant woman, surrogate parent or someone who matched with a child by an adoption agency, within 26 weeks service as an employee, to take up to two weeks leave in one block.

Birth

The leave must be taken within 56 days of the birth of a child or within 56 days of the expected date of birth if the child is born early. When explaining his point, Churchyard said fathers also needed to be part of their children’s lives and not make it a gender role activity. He made an example of how his organisation kept away from strict gender norms by allowing their male workers paternity leave. “Our male workers are given four weeks leave after they welcome a new baby, this is to allow them to be part of the process with their families, and help the new mothers,” said Churchyard. In 2002, California passed the first paid parental leave law in America. Parents can take off up to 10 weeks after birth, and receive up to 60 per cent of their wages, plus job protection. The weekly payment increases each year and is scheduled to hit 67 per cent of regular wages in 2022.

South Africa’s new parental leave laws were signed into law by President Cyril Ramaphosa, taking effect from January 1, 2020. The new legislation means that all parents including fathers, adopting parents and surrogates were now entitled to 10 days unpaid parental leave when their children are born. Meanwhile, Churchyard also revealed that in the country, 22 per cent of children lived with both biological parents under one roof. Echoing Churchyard’s sentiments was United States Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission John Moyer, who said reaching young fathers and educating them on the significant role they played in the lives of their children, families, and communities was vital.

“There is no question that a present and engaged father contributes to cohesive, resilient families, and in turn builds cohesive, resilient communities. Indeed, the impact that a good father has on families and communities is hard to overstate. Children see it all. We know this is true, and as parents, caregivers and community members, it bears reminding. Children see how we treat each other and they model that behaviour,” he said. In addition, he said fathers should spend time with their children because if children watched positive male role models respecting women and embracing gender equity, they internalised these lessons and would be good parents themselves.

Data

Meanwhile, the US Embassy revealed that there was no proper record of data collected on children living without their fathers in the country. Moyer said there was almost no data for Eswatini on the impact of fatherless children in the country. He said, however, if the US experience was any guide, the impact was deeply troubling. Moyer mentioned that in the US, girls who grew up in fatherless households were seven times more likely to become pregnant as teenagers. “Children who grow up without a father are four times more likely to live in poverty, and twice as likely to drop out of high school. These statistics are stark. They paint a clear picture of how the absence of fathers negatively impacts children’s lives,” he said. Worth noting was that the US Embassy works with Kwakha Indvodza and many other organisations to address gender-based violence issues, empower women and girls, prevent sexual assault, and address the power imbalance that feeds cycles of abuse and violence.

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