Bill expanding paternity leave to 25 days with full pay

Bill expanding paternity leave to 25 days with full pay

The Philippines has been lauded by the world for its efforts in promoting gender equality. Various laws have been passed throughout the years that seek to promote the welfare and rights of the women and eliminate any form of discrimination against them.

Parañaque District Representative Eric L. Olivarez has filed House Bill No. 8230 or the “Twenty-Five (25)-Day Expanded Paternity Leave Act of 2020,” which complements and reaffirms the basic gender equality principles.

Just recently, the Expanded Maternity Leave Act has been passed granting women a total of one hundred five (105) days of paid maternity leave. This indeed a great gender equality milestone as it recognizes the multiple roles and burdens experienced by women who need to work and earn a living while taking care of her children and the household in general. 

However, while this is truly deserving of a celebration, it might also slowly fame up a silent form of discrimination against female workers whereby employers might be more inclined to hire a man over a woman even though the latter might be more qualified, in order to evade the potential responsibility of paying up higher maternity leave benefits. 

Silent discrimination will be very hard to curb and reprimand precisely because its existence is difficult, if not totally impossible, to prove in court.

Thus, it is better to proactively seal off the possibility of its occurrence rather than deal with it belatedly when the damage has been done.

paternity leave bill1
Photo: http://congress.gov.ph/legisdocs/basic_18/HB08230

Rep Olivarez said that this bill seeks to address this potential anomaly by highlighting and promoting the rights and duties of men as father or parents, and by proactively normalizing the concepts of shared parenting in our society. 

“The contribution of fathers in attending to and caring for a new born child is undeniably important significant yet it is not usually celebrated or even discussed. The assumption by men of an active, hands-on, and central parenting role will greatly benefit not just their female partners, but also the newborn child and the family as a whole,” Rep Olivarez added.

When women and men equally share the time and labor of raising children, women are given the opportunity to spend equal time and labor in building a career and financial independence. 

It also eliminates the possibility of the above-discussed silent discrimination against women in the hiring phase of a job opportunity. Most importantly though, increasing the paternity leave benefits will pave the way for a cultural transformation where men and women share both domestic and economic burdens equitably.

Moreover, various researchers have shown that when fathers are more engaged with their children, their children have better developmental outcomes. This includes having fewer behavioral problems and having well-improved cognitive and mental health conditions.