Parental leave in Argentina
“If I missed days at my job they would pay me less at the end of the month and that is something I can’t afford having this many mouths to feed” says David, a janitor for a building in Belgrano, Buenos Aires, and father of four children. David was unable to attend the birth of two of his children and only got to see them later at night, after his shift was over. His wife spent most of the postpartum period alone, with some help from her mother, but mostly had to care for their newborn and their other children by herself, while also dealing with her own postpartum care.
David’s story is not an exception but rather the rule for around 8.5 million people who work in informal conditions in Argentina, and account for almost 45% of all workers. The situation is not only difficult for unregistered workers but also for those protected by the Job Contract law (law nº 20.744) passed in 1974. Although certain employees benefit from more generous rules in their respective companies - mostly international corporations - the general rule is a two-day paternity leave. This has many implications for every family not to mention that the father is deprived of spending precious time with his newborn child.
Benefits to increasing parental leave
Different studies suggest there are many benefits to increasing paternity leave. For starters, the presence of the father during the postpartum period diminishes the risk of postpartum depression, a condition that affects a huge amount of new mothers (percentages vary according to studies but range from 30% to 80% of women). On a social level, according to Carolina Aulicino who works with Unicef for a more equal society, parental leave that promotes more balanced involvement between both parents would be an enormous step towards improving women’s inclusion in the work market. Women risk discrimination by potential employers, due to the possibility they will have children at some point. Presently, there is a 20 point difference between men and women’s participation in the Argentinian work market. Increased paternity leave would also contribute to reducing gender stereotypes and inequality in house duties.
Parental leave world-wide
Argentina is the country with the shortest paternity leave in South America. In Chile and Brazil employees benefit from 5 days, while Uruguay’s employees can take up to 13. The gap stretches when comparing these policies to parental leave in other regions. Spain extended its paternity leave to 16 fully paid weeks on the 1st of January this year. Not quite catching up with Sweden where employees are not only encouraged but obliged to take a paternity leave of up to 480 days, some of which don’t expire until the child is 8 years old.
While the situation in Sweden or even Spain may seem too utopian, an extension of paternity leave is being debated in the Argentinian Congress. Currently, there have been 61 projects to improve the circumstances in which families welcome a new child, either born to them or adopted (in this case, up until the child is 6 years old). Over 50 of these projects were supported by both political parties which underlines the imperative need for a change in Argentina’s parental leave policy.
Current situation
According to CIPPEC (Centro de Implementación de Políticas Públicas para la Equidad y el Crecimiento), a non-governmental organization that proposes public policies to the State, ideally the new parental leave should take into consideration at least three main pillars: Universality, since the new policy should apply to every family regardless of social class, professional status, parents’ sexual orientation and whether the new child is biological or adopted; co-parentality or equal distribution of child-care and finally adaptability. The latter implies allowing parents to choose who will use some of the days of leave, according to their schedules, job responsibilities or whichever criteria they choose.
In February, a new draft bill was presented by Itai Hagman, from the “Frente Para Todos” party, and is still being debated. This draft bill suggests that the parental leave be extended to 30 compulsory, fully paid days. Presenting this bill, he commented that “Increasing parental leaves means finally accepting that raising children should be a shared commitment (...) which is very much needed in 21st century Argentina”. The bill is supported by other congresspeople belonging to different political parties, such as
Gabriela Cerruti, (Frente Para Todos Party), Leonardo Grosso (Movimiento Evita Party), Hugo Yasky (Nuevo Encuentro Party). The law would also provide additional parental leave for multiple births and disabled or premature children.
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