30th July, 2014
By Tayo Ogunbiyi
The Lagos State Government recently okayed a 10-day paternity leave for male civil servants. Consequently, the male officer to whom a new baby (or babies as the case may be) is born shall be entitled to 10 working days leave. Similarly, a female officer is now entitled to twenty-four weeks maternity leave with full pay during her first two deliveries and that the leave shall commence at least two weeks before the expected delivery date. Subsequent deliveries would, however, attract only 12 weeks maternity leave for the female officer, while the male officer would not be entitled to the 10-day leave.
In the previous policy, female officers were only entitled to twelve weeks (three months) maternity leave, while their male counterparts were not considered for paternity leave.
Discussions on modern parenting are full of the idea of revolutionary change. The increasing opportunity to combine parenting with work outside the home has clearly made a huge difference to women. As for men, the assumption is that the emotionally distant, work-absorbed fathers of the past have been replaced today by the much more parentally focused ‘modern dad’ .
The first point of engagement is birth itself. The number of fathers attending the birth of their children has gone up markedly in the last few decades as opposed to what it used to be in times past.
Men in other nations have been enjoying paternity leave for some time. In the United Kingdom, for instance, beginning from April 2015, parents will be able to share 12 months of leave after the birth of a child. In the United States of America, a maximum of 12 weeks of unpaid parental leave for mothers and fathers is in operation. In Scandinavia nations such as Norway, Sweden and Iceland men observe paternity leave in various forms. In Australia, parents share up to 52 weeks of unpaid leave while Japan offers a year’s unpaid leave to each parent and South Korea allows both parents partially paid parental leave for up to one year.
It is unusual in Africa for fathers to get paternity leave. But in Kenya, Cameroon, Chad, Gabon and Cote d’Ivoire men are offered 10 days of paternity. In South Africa, fathers receive a paltry three days as paternity leave.
There are a number of reasons in support of the new policy. Integrating a new child into a family involves hard work, particularly for new parents. Having a parent at home at all times may, therefore, be essential in the first few weeks. Paternity leave allows a father to help out in the days and weeks following a birth.
Psychologically, new parents generally want to spend time getting to know their child in order to establish a bond with the baby. It can be demanding and distasteful to be trapped at work all day while a new child is making developmental leaps and bounds at home. New fathers may also feel emotionally strained by their inability to help out at home.
In Lagos, government was particularly concerned about the fact that parents spend more time at work place at the expense of the home front. This is harmful to the basic developmental needs of children and often account for a number of societal ills. It has been scientifically proven that the first few months of a child’s life plays a great role in its all round development. However, at six months, that is 24 weeks, a baby is considered strong enough to be left in a decent crèche for proper care having gone through close affection and nurturing by the mother for those important and delicate first few months of his or her life.
One health benefit of the new policy is that the advocacy for six months exclusive breast-feeding can now be achieved devoid of any difficulty. Similarly, mothers will now be able to take their children for the regular immunization within the period and also monitor the health of their babies adequately. More importantly, it gives parents the time to provide great prenatal and postnatal care, lowers accident rates and allows a great sense of bonding. This will give the family the opportunity to unite, relax, and be together as a family before work and other stressful situations arise.
As with every policy, fears are being raised in certain quarters over the new policy. Since, the law is binding on all employers in the state, the fear of many is that if some employers reject female job seekers when the leave period used to be 3 months, the present situation could totally jeopardise employment opportunities for young female applicants.
Another controversial area of the policy is the clause that they would revert to 3 months leave from the third child onward. The question many are asking is that if the new policy is being granted to ensure that exclusive breast-feeding is provided for new babies, does it mean that subsequently children, after the stipulated first two, should be deprived of same opportunity?
Nigerians from all walks of life have, however, been calling on employers of labour across the country to embrace the new policy of the Lagos state government. According to human rights activist and President, Women Arise for Change Initiative, Dr Joe Okei-Odumakin, the Federal Government and other states of the federation need to emulate Lagos State by extending maternity leave in order to allow nursing mothers to breast-feed exclusively.
She equally demanded for paternity leave so that fathers could provide adequate family bonding and involvement in child care activities. She said: “I have always insisted that the three months maternity leave is very inadequate considering all that the mothers need to do to ensure care and safety of the babies. Most times, the mother hurries to resume work at the time the baby needs her most; but with this new arrangement, the mother has enough time to take care of the baby. The father also needs the leave to stay with his family and give them the necessary attention.”
Paternity and maternity leave shape domestic and parenting habits as they are forming. While most mothers across the world now work, many women still see their careers suffer after they become parents, in part because they end up shouldering the bulk of the domestic load. The new policy in Lagos offers a chance to intervene at those crucial early, sleep-deprived weeks of diaper changes and midnight feeding, during which couples are faced with the tough task of child rearing. The new policy is, therefore, a progressive way of helping parents to lessen the arduous task of child rearing. It is a strategy that would help to attain marital stability, if properly put into use.
•Ogunbiyi is of the Features Unit, Ministry of Information & Strategy, Alausa, Ikeja