Paternal Leave Entitlement and Workplace Culture: A Key Challenge to Paternal Mental Health

Ernestine Gheyoh Ndzi () and Amy Holmes
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Ernestine Gheyoh Ndzi: York Business School, York St. John University, York YO31 7EX, UK
Amy Holmes: York Business School, York St. John University, York YO31 7EX, UK

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 8, 1-13

Abstract: Paternal mental health continues to be a health concern in the UK. Paternal leave entitlement and workplace cultures have failed to support fathers in navigating the complexity of fatherhood, which has an impact on fathers’ wellbeing. Interviewing twenty fathers in the York area, this study seeks to explore the impact of parental leave entitlements and workplace cultures on fathers’ mental health. The findings demonstrate that the influence of gendered norms and hegemonic masculinity perceptions are ingrained in the current leave entitlement and workplace cultures. While fathers are entitled to take leave, the leave is significantly insufficient to allow them to forge a meaningful bond with a newborn or adapt to the change in routine brought about by the birth of a baby. Furthermore, workplace cultures fail to recognise the responsibilities that come with fatherhood and provide insufficient support for fathers. The COVID-19 lockdown presented fathers with a unique opportunity to be available and take on more family responsibilities. Fathers felt they did not have to navigate gendered and hegemonic perceptions to spend more time with the family. This paper challenges structural and cultural barriers that prevent fathers from taking leave and impacting negatively on fathers’ mental health. The paper suggests a review of the current paternal leave entitlement and cultural change in the workplace.

Keywords: paternity leave; shared parental leave; fathers’ mental health; fatherhood; parenthood; COVID-19; wellbeing (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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