Congratulations to Mr. Agbabiaka as he becomes the latest member of the Daddies’ Club of Nigeria, Lekki chapter. At about 11:59pm on a starry Friday night, Paulo (as his friends fondly call him) and his beautiful wife welcome a bouncing baby girl into the world. The young family is ecstatic at the arrival of their first child.
While the mother-in-laws were arguing with the nurses on whether the child was born on friday or saturday, Paulo couldn’t contain his joy, but he had one little problem. Before the due date for his wife’s delivery, he had applied for paternity leave at his workplace, but he was denied.
Paulo’s best friend, Seye in London, whose wife gave birth to a child two weeks prior got paternity leave from his own company and they even paid him leave allowance.
Does he have two heads?
Ehn?!
Paulo is not unlucky. He just happens to be one of the dads that live in countries that don’t apply parental leave to men. As a matter of fact, according to a UNICEF report, two-thirds of the world’s children under 1 year old — nearly 90 million — live in countries where their fathers are not entitled by law to a single day of paid paternity leave.
Nigeria is one of the 92 countries that do not have national policies in place that ensure new fathers get adequate paid time off with their newborn babies. When a bill to grant married men optional paternal leave was raised in the House of Reps, members of parliament even balked at the idea because “the Nigerian cultural and economic environment was not ripe for such privilege yet.” Hay God oh, when will men be ripe like this? God when?!
When you take a random poll to sample people’s opinion about paternity leave, you might see that it borders more on cultural than rational reasons. We live in a society where the typical husband is bred to see himself as the lord of the manor whose duties are to hunt and gather for the wife and kid. Therefore, he is undeserving of some days of work to tend to the demands of a newborn.
Is There Hope for Fathers?
Despite the ‘vote of no confidence’ in the idea from apex regulatory institutions, some employers are increasingly finding ways to meet the needs of working fathers, offering them family leave, flexible scheduling, and affordable child care options.
In January 2018, Access Bank became the first Nigerian bank to adopt an enhanced parental leave policy that extends paid benefits to not just mothers but fathers as well. The parent company of Guinness Nigeria, Diageo also implemented a fully paid paternity leave policy globally to foster a more inclusive and diverse workplace.
The employees that benefit from this policy here in Nigeria don’t have two heads oo!
Do Men Even Want Parental Leave?
Maybe back in the days it didn’t really matter to men if they got parental leave or not, but the case is different now with the predominantly millennial workforce across the world. A Promundo and Dove Men+Care study shows that 73% of dads think there is little workplace support for fathers. As a result, half of fathers say they missed important events in their children’s lives due to work.
Men clearly want to be around, they just don’t get the chance. Raising a newborn is not easy at all, and it’s definitely not a job for one person — especially the two individuals responsible for bringing the child to the world.
Having daddy around during this extraordinarily stressful period takes the pressure off new mothers, who often feel like they’re facing this challenge alone.
What can HR or Employers Do About It?
Here are four steps that might help employers take a more inclusive approach to paternal and parental leave:
- Expand paternity policy to match maternity policy or, better yet, implement a non gender-based parental-leave policy.
- Help leadership understand and support paternal leave.
- Build a culture that supports paternal leave.
- Provide more education, resources and support for line managers.
If a parental leave policy that includes men works somewhere in the world, it will probably work here too. Perhaps, the policy might help support employees to focus on the joy of raising a young family, while continuing to thrive at work, and ensuring women and men are supported to have time with their new baby regardless of where they live and work.
Those that enjoy paternal leave don’t have two heads.
Maybe we should just give it a try and give not just Paulo, but thousands of young fathers out there, a chance to share the happy moments a newborn brings.
