I'm a father, have had sole custody of my five children for 8 nearly 9 years.
Both parents have the same responsibility to their kids, to do the absolute best for them, and we should fight back against outdated cultural norms that assume that mothers are the default parent, and that fathers "babysit" their own children.
> we should fight back against outdated cultural norms that assume that mothers are the default parent
Its changing very slowly. Its very deeply ingrained which is self-reinforcing (schools phoning the mother when a child is sick is an example that came up in a previous discussion). Its assumed by the law in many countries (virtually no paternity leave here in the UK, for example).
Yeah the complete lack of paid parental leave for fathers upon the birth of a child in many otherwise progressive countries really rankles me - in NZ, if the mother qualifies for PPL, she can transfer some to the father.
But if she doesn't (e.g., she wasn't working enough regular hours over six months in the last 12 months, so for example, a stay at home parent) then the father doesn't qualify at all - because why would you need to stay home and support your partner and bond with your newborn child? Pfft.
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