Despite all his love, spoiling and splurging, a new U.S. father will actually get to spend far less time connecting with his son or daughter than fathers in other countries. The U.S. is well known for having a complete lack of paid maternity leave for new mothers (the only country in the world along with Oman and Papua New Guinea), and fathers also have to deal with zero time off following the birth of their child.
In the majority of developed nations, more and more men are starting to bid farewell to their colleagues and prioritize their new child over work. Indeed, the OECD reported that men's use of parental leave is rising, though the portion actually taking it varies heavily between different countries.
A UNICEF report analyzing OECD and Eurostat data found that Japan has 30 weeks of paid parental leave that can only be taken by the father. In this case, weeks of parental leave are presented as full-rate equivalent where by the total length of leave entitlement is multiplied by the average wage replacement rate. UNICEF states that South Korean fathers can avail of 17 weeks while Dad's in Sweden have 10 weeks at their disposal.
Despite the generous allowance in Japan and South Korea, very few fathers in both countries avail of it as they fear the career implications. The United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia are among the countries that have no paid parental leave in place for Dads.
