TOW Post #17- Article: "Daddy Track: The Case for Paternity Leave"

             Having a baby is sure to be a life changing experience, especially when it comes to the first few weeks and months of the baby and the parents adjusting to a new schedule and enhance the bond between each other. It is typical that the mother goes on maternity leave in order to rest after having the baby and also take some time off of work to be with her newborn. But a new trend is starting to become more popular within the United Sates; fathers also taking off from work, a.k.a paternity leave. Fathers are usually the ones to continue to work, and find ways to bond and help with the baby around his work schedule, but today more and more dads are taking paid paternity leave as Liza Mundy writes.

             In her most recent article, featured in The Atlantic magazine, Mundy talks about the popular trend that seems to be occurring throughout the United Sates. Mundy makes an argument that the paternity leave is a beneficial trend, not only for the man himself but also for the mother and the baby. She incorporates research findings and facts, and real-life examples in order to support her claim.

            Starting off her article she uses a real-life example of a man, Chris Renshaw, who decided to take a two week paternity leave. She incorporates how Chris told his co-workers and what was their reaction. "“It’s definitely looked at in a good light,” says Renshaw, 28, who lives in Northern California and was taking infant-care classes to hone his diapering and baby-bathing skills. “People have said, ‘That’s a great idea—take as much as you can. It’s time that you can be with your child.’ ”" The reaction that Chris's co-workers gave him was surprising, considering one might think his co-workers would ask why, since it's not the usual thing for a man/dad to do. But later on Chris goes on to mention how important it was for him to have time with his baby, the first few weeks of the baby's life.
            Not only does Mundy include this real-life example, she also incorporates facts and research in order to demonstrate the benefits of paternity leave. She states that, "Previous studies found that fathers who take paternity leave are more likely, a year or so down the road, to change diapers, bathe their children, read them bedtime stories, and get up at night to tend to them." This is extremely beneficial because it helps the mother down the road and also allows fathers not only to be known for providing for the family financially but now also emotionally earlier in their baby's life. Through incorporating life examples and research and facts, Mundy was able to successfully argue that paternity leave is rather beneficial and important.

Link:http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/01/the-daddy-track/355746/