Paid paternity leave, offered for men only, offers dramatic changes in workplace, home dynamics

Canada’s found success in bolstering its economy by getting people to work less.

Not just anyone, though. Specifically, men — men who are fathers of newborns. In a report, published online on Tuesday, and coming out in this weekend’s Sunday New York Times magazine, Catherine Rampell documented how maternity leave can help boost the economy. In particular, Rampell looked at Quebec, and how a change in paternity leave policy there bolstered the economy.

“They have set aside a few weeks of parental leave that can only be taken by dads,” Rampell said. “Usually, for countries that have some paid parental leave program, either parent can take it and they can divide it among them. In Quebec, as in a couple of other countries, the way it works is dads can only take a certain portion of that and moms can only take a certain portion of that.”

There is a built in incentive for fathers to take this leave because if they don’t, they are basically leaving money on the table. The leave can’t be shifted over to the mother.

The goal of the program is to get fathers more involved in childcare and other household work for their families.

Even though men were eligible for numerous work-life accommodations before this new program, it was predominantly women who were taking advantage of them.

“After the introduction of this paternity leave quota, fathers spent more time in childcare and other domestic tasks, particularly domestic tasks like cooking,” Rampell said. “And mothers, interestingly, spent more than an hour a day more in paid work.”

All this is important because it helps to balance gender roles and opens up opportunities for women. In Rampell’s report, she revealed that women often find their careers sidelined, with the excuse being that they’re not around. If men are also taking paternity leave, it levels the playing field.

“You mentioned giving the mom more time to think about how she wants to structure her life,” Rampell said. “The other thing is it changes expectations and habits. It probably changes the comfort level for many dads and their skill level.”