Research shows that experiences and relationships during children’s first five years are critical for their development. While parents need time and resources to provide nurturing care from pregnancy and beyond, infancy is a particularly vulnerable period for a child. Accordingly, Global data from the WORLD Policy Analysis Center shows clear progress in the provision of paid parental leave, most significantly, a steady rise in the number of countries in modern-day society that provide paid paternity leave.

Nevertheless, the extent of maternity and paternity leave benefits will vary from each individual company. For this reason, Real Research launched a survey seeking public opinion on maternity and paternity practices. Here are the results.

Highlights:

  • 63.48% reside in a country that has paternity leave practices.
  • 53.34% say the mother’s income should be higher than the father’s to take leave.
  • 47.42% think one week is enough for paternity leave.

A Month Paid of Parental Leave

To begin, the survey in search of the public’s opinion on maternity and paternity leave practices asks whether respondents have children. A majority of 81.30% say they do, and the remaining 18.70% don’t.

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Figure 1: Percentage of respondents on how long an employer pays for parental leave in their country

Then the survey followed with a question on how long is Parental Leave allowed in respondents’ country of residence. The responses are the following: 1 month (46.66%), 1-3 months (12.11%), 3-6 months (7.89%), and 6-12 months (6.69%). Whereas 7.28% say it depends on what job, 6.91% say it depends on work patterns, and 3.72% say it depends on gender.

Similarly, the survey asks the respondents how long an employer has to pay for parental leave in their country of residence. Comparably, results were not far from the prior, with one month at 51.43%, 1-3 months at 15.77%, 3-6 months at 10.97%, and 6-12 months at 8.31%.

Maternity vs Paternity Leave

Additionally, the survey asks the respondents if they have ever heard about paternity leave. Here, 63.48% say yes and that it is even popular in their country of residence, while 20.12% have heard of it but don’t know anyone who has taken paternity leave. In contrast, 16.40% haven’t heard about it.

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Figure 2: Percentage of respondents that heard about paternity leave

After that, the survey asks for respondents’ opinions on which case they think men must be allowed to take paternity leave. A whopping 53.34% consider it if the mother’s income is higher than the father’s, while 15.81% say if the mother has health complications after birth. Meanwhile, 15.19% say that paternity leave must be allowed in the same way as women regardless of the reason. Others (8.49%) consider it if the mother is unable to care for the child, and 6.04% say if the father has better care-taking skills.

Furthermore, when the survey asks if the amount of maternity and paternity leave should be the same, 46.07% answer most definitely, and 14.58% say definitely. While 18.92% remain neutral and 9.95% are unsure, others (7.13%) say it must be less for men. On the other hand, 3.36% say it must be less for women.

Amount of Paternity Leave

Consequently, the survey asks the public’s opinion on what reasonable amount of paternity leave should men be given. In response, 47.42% say one week, 19.25% say one month, 16.16% say 1-3 months, and 15.87% say six months or more.

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Figure 3: Respondents’ opinion on what should employers do to ensure the safe and comfortable return of their employees from maternity and paternity leave

Moreover, the survey asks the respondents what employers should do to ensure the safety and comfortable return from maternity and paternity leave of their employees. On this, 53.45% feel employers should provide open and transparent discussions about leaving and returning to work. Others (14.99%) feel employees should have maternity and paternity leave benefits and progressive return to work.

While 6.23% think employers must provide employees with facilities as they work from home. Other opinions are providing flexible work practices (5.96%), modifying workload (5.71%), having an inclusive and positive attitude (4.33%), and even providing a suitable place to breastfeed for mothers (4.53%).

Lastly, when the survey asks respondents how they feel about paternity leave for men in general, 45.40% are ‘extremely positive’ about it. While 16.32% are somehow positive, 28.11% remain neutral. However, 4.94% show some negative feelings towards paternity leave, and 5.23% are ‘extremely negative’.

Methodology

Survey TitlePublic Opinion on Maternity and Paternity Leave Practices
DurationJune 15 – June 22, 2022
Number of Participants50,000
DemographicsMales and females, aged 21 to 99
Participating Countries Afghanistan, Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belarus, Benin, Bolivia, Brazil, Brunei, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Chile, China, China (Hong Kong) China (Macao), China (Taiwan), Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Greanada, Guatemala, Honduras, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Ivory Coast, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lebanon, Libya, Lithuania, Malaysia, Maldives, Maluritania, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar [Burma], Namibia, Nepal, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Vietnam, Yemen, Zimbabwe.