Paternity leave law: an opportunity to reduce gender gaps

a new law

This August 5, Law 2114 of 2021 came into force, which expands paternity leave and creates shared parental leave and flexible parental leave.

From now on fathers will not have eight days but two weeks of paternity leave. In addition, the last six weeks of the eighteen to which the mother is entitled may be distributed between her and her father.

The law adds an article with “anti-discriminatory measures in labor matters”:

1. Employers are prohibited from requiring women to prove their pregnancy in order to access or remain in employment; Y
2. Questions about reproductive plans are prohibited in job interviews.

The Constitutional Court had already affirmed that it is discriminatory to ask a woman for a pregnancy test to access a job. However, according to a 2020 survey by the Women's Equity Observatory (OEM), 28% of women in Cali have been asked for this test. That is a sample of what happens in the rest of the country.

licenses

Maternity leave is a right of mothers before or after giving birth; paternity leave is a right of the father at the time of the birth of her child and parental leave can be taken by one of the two, at the same time or at different times.

Maternity leave was created more than a hundred years ago. They have existed in Colombia since the 1930s, when the country adhered to the Convention on the protection of maternity, promoted by the International Labor Organization (ILO).

Some Scandinavian countries have adopted parental leave since the 1970s. Countries such as Norway have introduced, since 1993, a compulsory leave for the father, which cannot be transferred to the mother and is lost if it is not used.

Paternity leave is more recent, and in Colombia some precedents already existed: Law 50 of 1990 established that fathers had the right to a few days off that had to be managed as a domestic calamity and the "Maria Law" (755 of 2002) created the eight days paternity leave.

The benefits

Much research shows the benefits of increased parental involvement in the upbringing of their children.

A 2018 study in Germany found that parents who took leave spent more time caring for children and were more involved in household chores. Another study carried out in Sweden showed that a greater participation of parents in the care of their children implies a greater degree of co-responsibility in the educational process. And another investigation carried out in Norway in 2011 concluded that paternity leave is associated with more equality in the distribution of housework.

In addition, the benefits of the time that men can dedicate to home care extend to other areas. Some research shows positive effects on women's mental health when men take paternity leave: their support during breastfeeding and stress reduction decrease the likelihood of postpartum depression.

The life of a couple can also benefit from assuming care in a more equitable way. In Germany it was found that men who are more involved in housework have more sex and report more sexual satisfaction.