All You Need is Leave? Rethinking the Concept of Paternity Leave

Authors

Ifat Matzner-Heruti

Abstract

According to the common view, fathers should be entitled to paternity leave following the birth or adoption of their children. Such leave, it is believed, will increase fathers' involvement in childcare as well as enhance an equal division of caregiving and work between parents. In order to examine these assumptions, this article investigates the Israeli paternity leave provision, enacted in 1998. According to the data, the provision has been used by only a negligible number of Israeli fathers, and this article aims at exploring possible reasons for this low use. Building upon the Israeli experience as well as other countries' empirical research about paternity leave, the article suggests rethinking the concept of paternity leave and advocates for a more relevant and effective new policy.

Disciplines

Law

Recommended Citation

Ifat Matzner-Heruti, All You Need is Leave? Rethinking the Concept of Paternity Leave, 21 Cardozo J. Equal Rts. & Soc. Just. 475 (2015).
Available at: https://larc.cardozo.yu.edu/cardozoersj/vol21/iss2/6