Why paternity leave is important in supporting Irish fathers and their families

Paternity leave is not simply a workplace benefit, but an investment in health, wellbeing, and society as a whole

Becoming a new parent can be a deeply rewarding and enriching experience, but it is also often accompanied by significant stresses and challenges that are typically not openly discussed, or indeed reflected, in media portrayals of family life. The arrival of a new baby is a major life event that requires both parents to adapt to changes in their identity and relationship, not to mention the day-to-day experiences of sleep disruption, physical exhaustion, and social isolation, all of which can negatively impact overall health and wellbeing.

The research highlights, perhaps unsurprisingly, that mothers, as the birthing parent, are particularly vulnerable, with up to four in 10 mothers reporting symptoms of depression during the first 12 months after the birth of their child.

However, increasing evidence suggests that a significant proportion of fathers, estimated to be in the region of 10 per cent to 30 per cent, may also experience symptoms of depression and anxiety as a result of their new role. Notably, many are ‘suffering in silence’ as fewer than 5 per cent seek help from their GP or a mental health professional due mainly to stigma or taboos arising from perceptions around male masculinity, coupled with a belief that their health and wellbeing are less important when compared to their partner.

Thus, during their transition to fatherhood, men can experience not only positive emotions such as fatherly love and protectiveness of their partner, but also feelings of being excluded and unprepared, as well as indecisiveness and helplessness. These, in turn, can lead to shame and guilt in a society where traditional cultural and gender norms persist around paternal roles and responsibilities in the first year after birth, a time during which mothers are (still) expected to shoulder the bulk of caregiving, with fathers often remaining very much secondary participants.

Research

Importantly, we also know from a considerable body of research that strong co-parenting support and the involvement of fathers are significant protective factors in terms of supporting their partners’ physical, psychological, and emotional wellbeing and overall levels of family stress.

For example, a 2020 study of almost 450 Canadian mothers found that greater paternal involvement was associated with lower maternal depression and parenting stress due to stronger parenting alliances and relationship quality.

Furthermore, a supportive and involved partner has been found to be beneficial not only for the mother, but also for the child in the first 12 months after birth. This is a critically important period in a child’s life during which parent-child bonding and the forming of warm and nurturing attachments to parents and significant others are essential for healthy child development, while also laying a strong foundation for later years. However, for first-time fathers, balancing work demands with their new parenting role in the first year after the birth of a child creates particular challenges and vulnerabilities which may be compounded by often unsupportive, workplace norms, and expectations.

So how can we better support new fathers in Ireland in ways that more effectively address their own health and wellbeing needs and those of their partners and children in the earliest weeks and months after the arrival of a newborn?

Policies

Paternity and parental leave policies and mechanisms have emerged as important tools in supporting family wellbeing and parental involvement during this all-important period and especially in encouraging fathers to take time off from work following the birth of a child. Recent European Union (EU) policy initiatives, such as the Work-Life Balance Directive (2019), transposed in Ireland primarily through the Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Act (2023), mark a significant shift in recognising fathers’ rights to parental leave, while also promoting gender equality in the workplace by setting minimum standards for paternity and parental leave as well as flexible working arrangements.

However, as indicated in the recently launched Movember report, ‘Extra Time’ with Dad Ireland ranks amongst the lowest in Europe for paternity leave, which currently stands at two weeks* compared to the EU average of 8.5 weeks. The report’s findings, based on a comprehensive survey of the experiences and health and wellbeing of 403 men (conducted in May of this year), indicate that one in four new fathers reported fair to poor physical and mental health in the first year after the birth of their child, while those who took longer periods of leave had better mental health, and stronger bonding with their child.

Additionally, fathers lose up to three-quarters of their weekly income when taking standard state paternity leave (€299 per week) and only half of eligible fathers availed of paternity benefit during 2019–2022. Three in five felt that their role as fathers is undervalued by society.

Ireland has invested heavily over the last decade in developing robust policies and programmes to support parents in the earliest years, such as the national early years strategy First Five (2018) and the development of the national model for parenting support services (Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration, and Youth, 2022). These important policy developments highlight a recognition, at the highest level, of the need to support parents in their parenting role in order to promote positive health and developmental outcomes in our children (and in families as a whole). Arguably, however, we are not doing enough to support new fathers and to address the factors that reduce the likelihood of paternity leave uptake during the first few weeks and months after the birth of a child.

Solutions

Some suggested solutions highlighted in the recent Movember report include extending the duration of paternity leave, increasing benefit amounts, and ensuring that such leave is stigma-free and can be easily accessed. The authors of the report are calling on the Government to establish a multi-stakeholder paternity leave working group to, amongst other things, review payment rates and duration, and to examine the workplace barriers and cultures that can quietly discourage men from taking time off to help care for their newborn child.

Paternity leave is not simply a workplace benefit: It is an investment in the health, wellbeing, and futures of children, parents, and society as a whole. The growing evidence on the important role of fathers in parenting, including during the 12 months after a child is born, is compelling from a family health and wellbeing and child development perspective. The question, however, is whether we are prepared to turn that knowledge and evidence into real and meaningful action to support fathers and their families across the country.

*To be taken during the first 26 weeks after the birth/adoption of a child.

Movember’s ‘Extra Time’ with Dad: Improving Men’s Health through Paternity Leave in Ireland report is available online at: https://movember.com/uploads/files/2026/Movember%20-%20Extra%20Time%20With%20Dad%20Paternity%20Leave%20Report.pdf

Prof Sinéad McGilloway is the Founder Director of the Centre for Mental Health and Community Research (https://cmhcr.ie/). She is also Principal Lead of the new all-island Collaborative Research Network in Mental Health (‘CO-PRIME’), funded by the Health Research Board and the Department of Health.