(English translation available after the Chinese article)

傳統社會，不論是香港還是西方社會，
媽媽都是家中主要的照顧者，
懷孕的是媽媽，
生孩子的是媽媽，
餵哺母乳的是媽媽。

生理上爸爸做不到這些東西，
但爸爸可以參與其他育兒的工作，
例如替寶寶換尿片、洗澡、與寶寶玩等。

如果爸爸在寶寶出生後沒有任何假期，
未必有時間分擔照顧寶寶的工作，
自然會依賴另一半照顧孩子。

根據聯合國兒童基金會在2019年7月發表的
有關有薪育嬰假和家庭友善政策的報告，
41個全球最富裕國家中，
26個國家提供有薪侍產假，
而當中只有16個國家提供全薪侍產假。

香港法定侍產假由2019年1月起，
由三天增至五天。
按照勞工法例，香港侍產假不算是全薪的侍產假，
侍產假薪酬只計算每日平均工資的五分之四。
當然不同企業和機構有不同做法，
有些機構願意為放侍產假的員工支付全薪，
有些更願意提供多於五天侍產假。

侍產假是近年家庭友善政策的熱門話題，
究竟侍產假對家庭有甚麼好處呢？

1. 增進夫妻感情

侍產假期間，
爸媽在寶寶初生開始就一起學習照顧寶寶，
一起建立父母的角色，
一起面對育兒的挑戰，
互相支持。

爸爸亦會觀察到媽媽產後承受的傷口痛楚和不便，
以及產後荷爾蒙影響到情緒起伏，
就更加明白需要多呵護妻子的身心靈需要，
有助夫妻間感情更緊密。

侍產假亦讓爸爸知道需要與妻子分擔家務和育兒責任，
照顧家庭的分工會更平均，
而不會只落在媽媽的身上。

2. 減低抑鬱症狀

Frontiers in Psychiatry期刊在2020年9月，
發表了一篇有關爸爸在寶寶出生後的抑鬱症狀，
訪問了來自美國五個不同地區，共881個不同種族的低收入父親，
他們的孩子約一個月大。
研究發現父親花愈多時間照顧初生寶寶，
一年後愈少機會出現抑鬱症狀。

爸爸愈投入照顧寶寶，
愈會建立起自信，
相信自己有能力做個好爸爸，
滿足感提高，
因此有抑鬱症狀的機會較低。

侍產假能夠讓爸爸（尤其是研究中的受訪低收入爸爸），
在不用擔心減少工作收入，甚至失去工作的情況下，
享受照顧初生寶寶的時間，
在這段日子建立起父親的角色，
建立親子關係，
從而減低情緒問題的發生。

3. 與孩子建立親子關係

麥肯錫在2021年3月的調查，
訪問了10個國家130名新手爸爸和其伴侶。
有受訪者表示留在家的時間多了，
就有更多時間陪伴孩子，
從而與孩子建立更親厚的關係，
亦更明白陪伴孩子十分重要，
繼而重新分配生活各樣事情的先後次序。

4. 幫助媽媽繼續發展事業

有不少家庭因為沒有長輩協助照顧寶寶，
或是不願或沒有能力聘請外傭，
令媽媽自願或被迫離開職場，
全職照顧家庭。

若爸爸能分擔媽媽的育兒工作，
媽媽就不一定要離開職場，
可以繼續發展事業。
不但能令家庭經濟更穩定，
媽媽更能透過工作實踐理想。

有些爸爸更可能藉此與媽媽達成共識，
由爸爸全職照顧寶寶，
讓妻子全心投入發展事業。

侍產假對爸媽和子女都有很多好處，
希望更多國家或地區的父親能享有侍產假！

資料來源：
A fresh look at paternity leave: Why the benefits extend beyond the personal
Paternity leave: US is least generous in list of world’s richest countries
PAID PARENTAL LEAVE AND FAMILY-FRIENDLY POLICIES An evidence brief by UNICEF
Greater father involvement in infant parenting is beneficial for paternal mental health
5 Reasons New Dads Need Paternity Leave

本文章所發表的全部內容均屬個人意見，並不代表Little Monkey之言論及立場。

關於作者
思嘉是一個在職媽媽，兒子約四歲，很明白在職爸媽面對的挑戰，希望能透過文字，跟各位爸媽分享有關為人父母的課題，互相支持和勉勵。

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Scarlesson
網頁：https://www.scarlesson.com/

[ENGLISH TRANSLATION]

How Important is Paternity Leave to a Family?

In a traditional family, whether that’s in Hong Kong or a western country, mothers are the main caregiver in the family from being pregnant to giving birth and breastfeeding, these are all the roles of a mother.

Physically dads cannot do these things but he can participate in other child caring work such as changing the diapers, bathing, or playing with the baby.

If dads do not have paternity leave, they might not have the time to help take care of the baby and instead would naturally rely on their other half to take care of the child.

According to a report by UNICEF in July 2019 about paid paternity leave and family friendly policies, out of the 41 richest countries in the world only 26 countries provide paid paternity leave and out of these, only 16 have fully paid paternity leave.

Hong Kong’s own paternity leave changed from 3 days to 5 days in January 2019. And according to the Labour Legislation, paternity leave in Hong Kong is not considered full-paid paternity leave. Instead, paternity leave is paid an average of four-fifths of the average daily salary. Of course, different companies and organizations have different practices with some willing to pay full salary to employees on paternity leave while others are willing to give more than 5 days of paternity leave.

Paternity leave is a hot topic in recent years but how beneficial is paternity leave to the family?

1. Enhance the Relationship of Husband and Wife

During the paternity leave, parents learn to take care of the baby together from the beginning. They build the role of being parents together, they face the challenges of parenting together, and they support each other.

Fathers will also be able to observe the pain and suffering of the recovery process of a postpartum mother. As postpartum hormones affect emotional ups and downs, fathers thereby would understand and cherish the wife’s physical and mental needs more, thus helping to bring the couple closer together.

Paternity leave will let fathers know he needs to share the housework and parenting responsibility with the wife so it is more equal in the division of work without it becoming only the mother’s responsibility.

2. Lower Depression

The Frontiers in Psychiatry published an article in September 2020 about father’s depression after the birth of their child. They interviewed 881 low-income fathers of different races from five different regions in the United States with children about one month old. After one year, the study shows that the more time fathers spent to take care of their baby, the less chance the father’s depression will surface.

The more time fathers devoted themselves to taking care of their baby, the more their confidence will be built believing they have the ability to be a good father with increased self-satisfaction and thereby lowering the chance of depression.

Paternity leave can also allow fathers (especially the low-income fathers interviewed in the study) to not worry about reducing work income or even losing their job. They can then enjoy the time to take care of the newborn baby and establish their role as the father during this time building a parent-child relationship and lowering the occurrence of emotional problems.

3. Building a Parent-Child Relationship

In March 2021, McKinsey and Company conducted an investigation where they interviewed 130 new fathers and their partners across 10 countries. Those who were interviewed indicated that if they had more time at home, they would be able to spend more time with their child and will be able to build a stronger bond with their child. Fathers will also understand how important it is to spend time with their child and can influence how they prioritize different aspects of their life.

4. Help Mothers Continue to Grow Their Career

Many families have no elders to help take care of their babies and are unwilling to or unable to hire foreign domestic helpers which causes the mothers to voluntarily or forced to leave the workplace to take care of the family full time.

If fathers can share the mother’s childcare responsibility, then mothers do not have to leave the workforce and can continue to develop their career. Not only will the family’s financial position be more stable, the mother can also achieve or fulfill her career aspirations through her job.

Some fathers can even reach a consensus with mothers where the fathers will be fully taking care of their babies letting their wives to go back to work fully to develop their career.

Paternity leave has many benefits for both parents and children so we hope more fathers in different countries and areas can enjoy paternity leave!

Sources:
A fresh look at paternity leave: Why the benefits extend beyond the personal
Paternity leave: US is least generous in list of world’s richest countries
PAID PARENTAL LEAVE AND FAMILY-FRIENDLY POLICIES An evidence brief by UNICEF
Greater father involvement in infant parenting is beneficial for paternal mental health
5 Reasons New Dads Need Paternity Leave

All the contents published in this article are personal opinions and do not represent the opinions and views of Little Monkey Hong Kong.

About the Author

Scarlett is a working mom with a 4-year-old son, who knows the challenges encountered by working parents. She would like to share some thoughts on parenthood that may serve as support and encouragement for moms and dads.

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Scarlesson
Website：https://www.scarlesson.com/