Paternity leave, 80% of men consider 10 days inadequate / Paternity leave: success or flop?

«There is still a lot to do from a cultural point of view to undermine those fears that see paternity and maternity leave as a brake on one’s career – comments Barbara Falcomer, general director of Valore D. – The cultural references must change, in this the The legislator can do a lot by providing equalization of parental leave, but until then companies can activate policies that promote shared parenting.”

Work on information

A first point is, without a doubt, information. Even today, in fact, only 13% of men subject of the sample knows in detail how paternity leave works to which, remember, parental leave can be added, i.e. a period of optional abstention from work of a maximum of 6 months (which can be increased to 7) that the father can take to take care of the your boy or girl within 12 years of life.

THE self-employedinstead, they are entitled to 3 months of compensated parental leave, to be used within the first year of the newborn’s life. Finally, for fathers registered with the INPS Separate Management, there is the possibility of requesting compensated parental leave for 3 months to be taken within the child’s twelfth year of life. Three months spread over twelve years: here is one of the many faces of the gender gap and, more generally, of a society built according to unbalanced criteria.

Balance in care activities

If well informed, however, people have no doubts: 7 out of 10 interviewees agree that paternity leave can promote gender equality with a greater balance in care activities. And here, the role that companies can play is crucial: «Some companies associated with Valore D provide paternity or second parent leave from 1 to 3 months, the most virtuous have equal leaves; many companies in the context of welfare projects allow advanced forms of smart-working as a means to better balance private and professional life, others offer counseling and listening support and activate training tools both to enhance the “soft” skills acquired by new parents, both to update “hard” skills and allow an effective and stress-free return to work” concludes Falcomer.

Talking about rights and inclusion, therefore, also means looking on the side of men, enabling step by step a structural change, made up of regulations in step with the times, good business practices, new languages ​​and, above all, the desire to break of schemes, proudly questioning outdated and exclusionary practices for each category.