Many American companies are offering more gender-blind paid leave for females and males alike, according to The Wall Street Journal.
These changes include improving the benefits that mothers already receive while creating or lengthening the time to which fathers have access.
One such company, Deloitte, offers as much as 16 weeks of paternity leave for its employees regardless of whether or not they will end up being the primary caregiver.
For now, the lack of any federally mandated paid leave policy means that the introduction of these gender-blind benefits are wholly voluntary and result from a company's generosity or need to offer a more compelling compensation package.
In fact, the U.S is the only industrialized nation that does not currently force businesses to provide paid leave and, historically, many employers have even used short-term disability for their parental-leave policies to pay their workers rather than offering it as a stand-alone benefit. As of 2017, only 58 percent of employers provide at least partial payment for a woman's maternity leave and only 15 percent offer any benefits for fathers or other partners.
In many ways, supporting the equality of parenthood for fathers echoes the growing movement for more balance in the workplace between men and women in general. For professional women, taking time away from work can mean sacrificing upward mobility as their employer may see them as unreliable. Meanwhile, men often do not take time off even when offered because they feel pressured to continue to work due to the stigma that exists around the traditional gender roles in a family. Putting men and women on equal footing here can help break down some of this divide, and growing research shows that both parents and children will enjoy long-term benefits from having this extra time together.
