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Equal, mandatory parental leave would go a long way toward leveling the playing field. Western cultures are still much more understanding of men being absent f
by jtr1 9y ago
Equal, mandatory parental leave would go a long way toward leveling the playing field.
Western cultures are still much more understanding of men being absent from their children's early lives than mothers. These sorts of cultural expectations and allowances are often taken for granted by the people who argue that "inequality of outcome != inequality of opportunity."
If women are to take a career hit for raising their kids, why shouldn't the men who fathered them take that hit as well?
- thomasahle 9y ago> Equal, mandatory parental leave would go a long way toward leveling the playing field. I actually thought Sweden already had this, but apparently not. At least not perfectly so, the parents have 480 days in total, with 90 earmarked to each: https://sweden.se/quickfact/parental-leave/ https://sweden.se/quickfact/parental-leave/
- thescribe 9y agoWhy mandatory? Why not let people do as they want?
- jtr1 9y agoJust trying to put this in the most bare terms, there's obviously plenty of edge cases and caveats around gender, but: a) Society places a greater burden on women than men for child-rearing. b) Women who take leave lose out on career opportunities. c) Men receive greater opportunities to advance their careers relative to women, since they are expected to take less leave. Even in the presence of equal parental leave, men (or just as often, their employers) can lean on the social expectation to return to work sooner, disadvantaging women. This becomes a bit of a chicken-and-egg problem since the culture and structure are mutually reinforcing. From a policy perspective, structure is easier to change than culture. In my view, that makes it a logical first step.