Families For Life | 4 Reasons for Dads to Take Paternity Leave

Taking paternity leave is a great way to support your partner and bond with your new baby whether you’re fresh to fatherhood or an old hand at parenting. The great news: those with a baby due to be born in 2024 (or after) are now entitled to four weeks of government-paid paternity leave, doubled from before.

While the move provides parents some respite, having dads play a more active role in parenting and taking care of a newborn can be a paradigm shift for some households. In 2019, the take-up rate of paternity leave was just 55 percent.

Here, we give you four reasons why all dads like yourself should take the time out when baby arrives earth-side.

1) Your marriage will be stronger

There’s nothing like being deep in the trenches of feeding, changing and calming a newborn every three hours that will make a couple appreciate each other that much more. When both parents are equally involved in the baby’s care, not only does parenting become teamwork, but you can truly be each other’s rock in times of need. In fact, a 2021 study by NUS Sociology and Centre for Population Research showed that when fathers took paternity leave, their families experienced less conflict and stronger relationships.

2) It becomes easier to tag-team with the wife

Many mummies will head back to work after maternity leave ends. This means, an alternate caregiver, many times the father, will need to step up to the plate when mummy isn’t available. The early weeks of a baby’s birth are the perfect time to start bonding with the child and for you to get familiar with your baby’s evolving routine.

3) You can be a role model for your growing child

If you have a daughter, would you like her expect to be saddled with most of the child-rearing and household duties in future? And if you have a son, what sort of values would you like him to embody? Being a role model for the children begins by building an early bond with them. When they see that you and your spouse are equal partners at home, they too may be inspired to model their future relationships after yours.

4) You get to witness the milestones

Children grow up so fast, everyone says, and they are right. Every little milestone, from their first smile and their first words to their clumsy toddling are sights to behold. And you will only get to see them with your very own eyes if you are actually physically present.