The moment I read this headline in the States Times — “Dads in Europe baulk at taking paternity leave” — my suspicions were raised. Unsurprisingly, the aim of the article was to justify the Singapore government’s decision not to make any arrangements for paternity leave. In doing so, an extremely misleading picture of paternity leave in Europe was painted.

The headline itself is rather sensationalistic. It would not be surprising if some European fathers baulk at taking paternity leave. The headline makes it out as though in general, European fathers baulk at taking paternity leave. In the article itself, it is claimed that “in places like Scandinavia where [paternity leave] is available, most men just do not want it.”

It turns out that not a single statistic on paternity leave in Europe mentioned in the article supports that statement. Let’s look at the statistics presented one by one.

Statistic #1:

British fathers have the right to two weeks of paid paternity leave after the birth of a child, but just one in five takes it.

My response:
As far as I could find out, this is a statistic from 2004. The quote from Malcolm Bruce that “some men are still influenced by our macho culture” was said by the ST to be from “an interview with The Guardian last month”, but it appears on Malcolm Bruce’s website only in 2004. Furthermore, Googling that quote turns up only instances of Bruce saying it in 2004. The only place where he is cited as having said it in an interview last month is the ST article. So there’s your little bit of misinformation. Let’s look at more recent statistics, from 2006:

…37% of new fathers took the full statutory entitlement of two weeks’ paternity leave. But 58% took less than a week.

37% is more than one in five, and more than 37% take some paternity leave (we don’t know how much, if any, of the 58% took no leave at all). No indication at all that most British fathers do not want paternity leave.

Statistic #2:

Even in Sweden… the average father takes just a fifth of the leave he is entitled to.

My response:
This says nothing about whether most fathers do not want paternity leave, which is the claim made by the writers. It may show that most fathers choose to take a shorter period of paternity leave than that which the state offers. But that is all.

Statistic #3:

A similar pattern has developed in Denmark, where parents may take up to 52 weeks of leave to care for a newborn. Men take an average of just 18 days, compared to 272 days for women.

My response:
Again, implies nothing about whether most men do not want paternity leave.

Statistic #4:

Germany also offers fairly generous benefits, allowing a parent of either sex who stays home with a newborn 67 per cent of his or her salary up to a maximum of 1,800 euros (S$3,800) a month for as long as a year, but just 9.6 per cent of men do so.

My response:
Just because only 9.6% of German men take the maximum entitlement of paternity leave (which, you may have noticed, is one year), doesn’t mean that most German men do not want paternity leave.

I suppose we should be grateful that the last few paragraphs of the article throw a concessionary bone to the truth:

It is possible, however, that more would have taken the opportunity if it had not meant going without pay, as Europe does offer some evidence that the more generous the allowances the more likely fathers are to stay at home with their children.

For example, there is a big difference in take-up rates between Britain, where a father is entitled to just £117 (S$309) a week for two weeks, and France, where his employer has to pay him his full salary for the first three days and 80 per cent for another 11.

Two-thirds of French men take their entire entitlement, more than three times the rate in Britain.