Should New Dads Take Paternity Leave? | Dad University

0:00 the question we are discussing today should new dads take paternity leave when you first hear the question it seems pretty easy yes overwhelmingly yes you know dad gets a chance to bond with the baby and he's taking on the responsibilities at home but what if it isn't that simple I recently talked to a father of three who took nine months of paternal leave for each one of his children however looking back he says that it was the wrong decision for him

0:30 at least going nine months was the wrong decision in this video I want to dive into that topic a little further let's see if we can answer the question should new dads take paternity leave hey guys I'm Jason crimen and welcome to another episode of dad University be sure to give this video a thumbs up subscribe to the channel and click on that notification bell so you know when our videos are uploaded also it really helps

1:00 us spread our message when you share these videos so maybe you know some people that might be interested in this please share with them I'd love to get some feedback from you do you think new dads should take paternity leave leave your feedback in the comment section below last year the organization UNICEF published a report which analyzed legally protected leave for 41 of the world's richest countries of those 26 offered paid paternity leave yet 40 of

1:31 them offered paid leave for women the United States was considered the least generous out of that list we do have the Family and Medical Leave Act but it only covers about 60% of Americans it allows certain workers up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave eight states in the US have introduced their own family leave policies it typically offers a percentage of the employer salary there is a push for companies to offer

2:01 paternity leave and a push to have men take it I did a previous video in which I explain that so many men are not taking paternity leave even when their company offer it and then you have a company like dove men's care who have also set up a paternity fund in which they're financially supporting men to be able to take paternity leave kudos to them and their work but this does bring up an important issue for many new dads

2:28 paternity leaves simply is not an option their employers aren't supporting it and they can't financially afford to do it taking off time from work and not getting paid it's just not an option what I want to say to these dads that if you can't take paternity leave or you decide not to take it it's okay no my opinion is that if you can take it great there's probably going to be a lot of benefit from it but if you decide not to

2:57 or you can't take it that's okay you can't beat yourself up about it I think there's a lot of pressure in this push for men to take paternity leave but not all men can do so you can still have an amazing relationship with your new baby you can be an awesome father you can be supportive to your wife and you can still take care of your responsibilities at home all still while making an income if you can't take paternity leave so

3:23 don't stress about it in the previous video I did I think my my thought process was a little bit more one-sided I had said you've got admit take fraternity leave no matter what do whatever you can but the truth is is that every situation is different and I think you need to do what is best for you and your family while it's true that that initial time with the baby is pretty amazing but it doesn't mean that

3:49 you can't work as well you can find that quality time to spend with your child whether it's before work after work or whenever and it still allows you to have an income and spend quality time with your child in the case I explained in the beginning of the video the dad took nine months of parental leave with each child now that's a long time and he actually then felt resentful because for him as a high wage earner he was missing

4:19 out on his salary that money could have been used for a down payment on a house could have been to pay off debt and to put his family in a better financial situation and for him providing for the family financially was really important so what ended up happening is he felt depressed unmotivated it really didn't help the situation I think one thing that we can learn from this is that we as humans really need to know ourselves

4:46 you know whether it's paternity leave or something else when you make a decision you have to know whether that's what's best for you and your family only you can decide that you know we here at Dodd University we provide a lot of advice a lot of insight and we often will tell you what you should do but you ultimately make those decisions for yourself you have to evaluate your situation your life the people around you your family and so ultimately the

5:17 decisions are up to you and then whatever happens in those decisions is up to you as well I think there's a couple points I want to summarize here for this video number one if your company offers full paternity leave take it why not it's a great opportunity to bond with your baby and help with the responsibilities at home number two if your employer doesn't offer paternity leave then you have to make that decision and evaluate what is best for

5:49 you and your family can you financially afford to do it can you take that time off is your spouse able to take the time off you have to make those decisions and then the third thing is that we really want to push for employers to offer paternity leave paid paternity leave there's a ton of benefits that come with that and people have had studies proving that paternity leave benefits those corporations as well it makes people more productive it makes them more loyal

6:20 and ultimately will make a better company I do hope this video is helpful if you are trying to make a decision about paternity leave but I want to hear from you do you think new dads should take paternity leave leave your feedback and comment section below if you found this video helpful you don't want to miss what we have for you in our other videos be sure to LIKE this video subscribe to the channel click on that notification

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