VOLUME 1 - TEST 6 - PASSAGE 2: Paternity Leave

B In general, legal and financial support for new parents is better than it has ever been. According to the International Labor Organization (ILO), 85% of countries now provide at least 12 weeks' maternity leave. In all but two of the 185 countries it surveys, mothers are entitled to some leave paid for by the state, companies or some combination of the two. Although only a third of countries meet the ILO's recommended minimum of at least 14 weeks off for new mothers, paid at two-thirds their salary and funded publicly, the picture is improving. But how many countries meet the ILO's guidelines on paternity leave? None because no such guidelines exist. Though it published detailed advice regarding female employees, the organization has drawn up no formal recommendations on fathers' rights and duties. Until recently, national governments have been similarly uninterested; less than half of countries offer new fathers more than a fornight, and companies, not the state, usually foot the bill for the costs of paternity leave. In the eyes of most people, responsibility for bringing up baby still falls squarely on the mother.

C Now a different view is slowly emerging, as growing evidence suggests that children benefit from seeing more of their fathers. But much of the demand for a shift in approaches to childcare has come from women, who have started to conclude that they are victims as well as beneficiaries of generous maternity-leave policies.