With the recent announce-ment from Prime Minister Tony Blair that he will not be taking paternity leave, the question of time off for working dads is open to debate once again.
A Mori poll last weekend showed that more than half of the British public back the PM in his decicion to carry on with his normal duties after the baby is born. But what about ordinary working fath-ers? The Cornish Times went into the high street in Looe to ask people what they think - should fathers have equal rights to time off when children are born?
Retired engineer Peter King said that even 20 years ago his company gave him the opportunity to take a week off work when his child was born. He believes that there should be a clear law in place which employers adhere to, so that the decicion whether or not to take paternity leave can be freely reached by couples. Said Peter: "You hear about a lot of women who suffer from post-natal depression. I think it is very important for women to have their husbands' support at this time".
Miss Cheryl Wiseman of Looe raised the interesting point that paternity leave should be available not only to husbands, but to male partners who wish to take time off to spend time with their child. She agreed that this could become difficult to regulate, saying: "Paternity leave should be available to partners who are in a long-term and clear situation. There are some occasions when couples are not able to marry or choose not to do so, and the father should be entitled to take time off in these cases."
But would men take up the opportunity to take time off if it was offered? Neil Watson from Telford, visiting his family in Looe, fully supports the idea that fathers should have equal rights to time off. Neil, who was spending the day with his baby neice Jordan, said: "Dads want to spend time with the new child just as much as the mums do. Local man Jonathan Bryce agreed, having taken periods of time off when all three of his children were born. Jonathan, who is self-employed, said: "It was important for me to have time to come to terms with the prospect of such a big life change." But when asked about what a father's role should be during time off, he laughingly admitted that there had been a "disproportionate share of the nappy-changing" between he and his wife.
Local mum Kay Chapman who works part-time, thought that fathers should be able to take at least a fortnight off to fulfil a vital role at home after a child is born. Mother of two Kay said: "It takes two or three weeks to get into the routine of having a new baby around. It would be helpful to have the dad on hand to help cope - especially if you have more than one child."
The general feeling in Looe seemed to be that most men would want to take paternity leave if they could do. But for some families it would not be a question of whether employers would allow it, but if it were financially possible for both partners to be off work. Young mum Sam Grigg remarked that paternity leave was "Ok if you can afford it". Sam, from Stourbridge said: "As far as I know the idea is for the man to take unpaid leave in addition to the mother. My husband is self-employed and there is no way we could afford it".
Under current government guidelines, fathers are entitled to 4 weeks unpaid leave a year, once they have been working for a year with the same employer. However this is not a right guaranteed by law.
Colin Pedder, who for the last 21 years has lived in Germany, explained that the system over there makes life easier for fathers who wish to take time off. Colin, who believes that a father's role in a child's upbringing is paramount, said: "I had the chance to take the same amount of time off as my wife when our baby Daniel was born, because the german government subsidizes paternity leave".
The overwhelming opinion in Looe was that it is a good idea for fathers to take time off work when children are born. The issue for many revolves around whether the government and employers should be providing more support for the many dads who would like to take paternity leave.