The Daddy Track Cometh

How many dads missed their son’s baseball game or daughter’s piano recital because they had to work? Come on, raise your hands.

Okay, you’re not alone here. While my son is still too young for such events, I battle Southern California traffic each weeknight with the hope of making it in time for his bedtime story.

One solution to making family events is to work for companies that offer flexible scheduling. That’s the solution Ernst & Young offers its workers, reports The Associated Press via San Diego’s North County Times.

“As men become more sensitive and are expected to be greater and greater partners at home, and want to be, will there become the equivalent of a ‘daddy track?’ ” asks Nancy Halpern of an executive coaching firm.

But even when such solutions are available, men are often reluctant to use them out of fear their bosses and co-workers will view them negatively. Only 2,400 out of 23,000 eligible men take advantage of Ernst & Young’s flexible scheduling.

The concern is even more pronounced in the United Kingdom where men have a legal right to take two-weeks PAID off. But only 79,000 men of the 400,000 eligible during the first for months of April took advantage of the government program, reports The Guardian.

Britain’s “macho culture” is being blamed for the poor showing. “It may be that men don’t want to take time off work to help look after their newborn baby because they’re worried what their male colleagues will think,” says Malcolm Bruce, the Liberal Democrats’ shadow trade and industry secretary. “Worse, they may be afraid their boss will hold it against them.”

Of course, the paternity pay rate of $185 a week may be the problem, but it’s still better than in the United States where most American men are told to take vacation time or take it off without pay. I had to skip vacations for a few years to build up enough spare weeks for when my son Seth was born.

But the point of all this is that dads do want to be more involved with their children. It’s just that financial and cultural pressures are a club that is used against them. Over time, though, I suspect paternal instincts and family responsibilities will win in the long run.

Update:
John at Flagrant Disregard points out that California is the first state in the nation to offer similar benefits. You get 55 percent of your regular pay, up to $728 a week, for up to six weeks.

This leave applies to other family emergencies such as a sick relative as well, reports the Center for American Progress.