Opinion | What Paternity Leave Does for a Father’s Brain (Published 2021)

Research finds that fathers who take paternity leave (and in particular two or more weeks of leave) are more likely to have better relationships with their children.

Specifically, fathers who take leave show better communication with their children, are closer to their children, and their children see them as a more involved parent. The positive imp... See more

Creating an environment where leave does not negatively affect promotions would be ideal. And, at a minimum, increasing transparency about the impact that paternity leave has on career trajectory and promotion timeline would be a valuable starting point. As one father noted, it is hard when there are “not many men taking time off, and managers and ... See more

“Taking leave is not normative,” says Richard Petts, a sociologist who specializes in research on parental leave, when explaining the paternity leave statistics that show how few men actually take more than a week of paid leave. He saw why first-hand when he struggled to get time off after the birth of his own child and cobbled together some sick d... See more