Irish men less aware of parental leave rights

IRISH men are less aware of their entitlements to take parental leave than the vast majority of their EU counterparts, a survey has revealed.

Only 57% of Irish males admitted they knew they could take time off as a right compared to the EU average of 75%. It is the second lowest rate of awareness apart from Greece where just 45% of men know of their parental leave entitlements.

The Euro barometer study shows that most European males, including Irish men, are reluctant to take parental leave for a variety of reasons, including a lack of payment and the belief that it is more for women.

The main factors deterring fathers from staying at home to look after a new baby or small child are financial, lack of information and concerns about their careers.

Most Irish men who knew about their entitlements claimed they had neither taken parental leave nor were thinking of doing so. They had the highest rate of any Europeans who did not intend to avail of their rights, with 95% stating they would not take parental leave.

Just 1% of Irishmen said there had taken or were considering taking leave for all or several of their children. But not one indicated a willingness to avail of parental leave in order to spend more time with their children.

Only 2% said they believed parental leave was not exclusively for women and that both parents should participate equally in child-rearing duties.

More than one-in-four Irish fathers said they had not taken parental leave because they could not afford to take time off work. A fifth of Irish men said they had not taken parental leave because their wife or partner was not working.

Almost one-in-three Europeans said the opportunity to take time off was not available when their children were young. A quarter of all those survey admitted that a more open-minded attitude to parental leave from their superiors and colleagues would encourage them to take time off to look after their young children.

Under the Parental Leave Act 1998, all natural or adoptive parents in Ireland are entitled to 14 weeks parental leave for each child. The legislation only applies to children born after June 3, 1996 and parental leave must be taken before the child reaches the age of five.

Last week, however, junior Justice Minister Willie O’Dea announced plans by the Government to improve existing provisions through a new bill due to be published before the end of the year. Among the main proposed changes are to allow the entitlement of 14 weeks parental leave to be taken in separate blocks of a minimum of six weeks and raising the maximum age of the eligible child to eight years. It will also extend parental leave entitlements to people acting in loco parentis.

Although SIPTU’s national equality secretary, Rosheen Callender, welcomed the Government’s proposals, she claimed take-up of parental leave by fathers would remain very low in the absence of payment to fathers.

“We have called for fathers to be entitled to paid leave with an allowance similar to the amount paid under the Carer’s Benefit, but there is a marked reluctance by the Government and employers to entertain this,” she said.