Extra childcare leave not the way to raise fertility rates, says Harvard professor
Harvard sociologist says long maternity leave reinforces hiring bias against women
By Toh Ee Ming
Giving extremely long maternity and childcare leave to women, as part of family-friendly policies, is “not the answer” to boosting fertility rates, according to a Harvard University sociologist speaking in Singapore.
Such a move will reinforce the “gendered division of labour” in the household, where women stay at home to do housework and take care of the children while men work, said Professor Mary Brinton, Reischauer Institute Professor of Sociology from the university’s Department of Sociology, at a public lecture and dialogue session on family and population.
It will also reinforce employers’ bias against hiring women, especially mothers, thus placing them on a lower rung in the workplace.
Prof Brinton said being absent from the workplace beyond six months, which she viewed as the best “maximum” period of leave for mothers, would also impact their earnings and promotion possibilities “negatively”.
To avoid such complications, she suggested that family-friendly policies could start with new fathers being required to take childcare leave, on top of offering paid leave for both parents.