> the third most common reason given was an “unfavorable atmosphere” in the workplace. The top reason was staff shortages and the second most common reason was that their company did not offer it.<p>If the company doesn't offer it, then they don't have a choice.<p>If they're short-staffed, that's (most likely) an atmosphere the company has created to keep labor costs low.<p>So the #2 reason shouldn't even be on the list, and #1 is essentially the same as #3. In other words, "unfavorable atmosphere" is the #1 reason for choosing not to take available paternity leave. This is no different from American companies that offer "unlimited" vacation time but create a toxic work culture where everyone feels guilty for using it.
I worked at various companies over there and bluntly asked why no one used up their PTO and/or took vacations longer than a day or two. The reply was always: taking any non-trivial amount of time off is perceived to be the sign of a lazy person, I don’t want to make waves.<p>This lines up quite well with their expression, “the nail that stands up gets hammered down.” Don’t stand out.<p>There have been cases where people taking a full week off were let go due to this perception of ineffectiveness. Obviously there is societal pressure going on here, but I truly hope it changes.
>Of those who did not take advantage of it, the third most common reason given was an “unfavorable atmosphere” in the workplace.<p>This brings to mind stories of workplaces in the US that officially offer unlimited vacation time but no one ever takes it because actually using it is viewed so negatively.
It really depends on the culture of the company. In my company (95% Japanese/non-gaishiki-kei) it’s the norm for people to take a couple months off when there’s a new addition to the family. I took 6 weeks when my son was born and nobody batted an eye. My friend, who also had a child around the same time me, couldn’t take parental leave, but said he’d be working remotely a lot instead.<p>I’m optimistic it will change, but probably not for another long while.
I work with a guy who took it for three months without having worked a day at the place besides orientation. The company knew about his situation prior to hiring him and were totally fine with it - they even arranged gifts etc. The place I work is Japanese but takes a lot of pride in shunning the work culture commonly associated with Japan.
To me, the most surprising factoid in this article is that Estonia offers 86 weeks of maternity leave! That's so much! And with such a low cost of living... goodbye, Bay Area.
Iceland basically made paternity leave 'mandatory':<p>> <i>The country passed a law that granted three months of non-transferable parental leave to both mothers and fathers; an additional three months of leave was granted to the couple to share as they chose.</i><p>> <i>By most measures, the law was a rousing success. About 90 percent of Icelandic fathers take leave. In 2007 (the most recent year for which I’ve found data), fathers in Iceland took 101 days of parental leave—almost exactly 1/3 of the family’s total benefit days.</i><p>* <a href="https://slate.com/human-interest/2013/04/paternity-leave-in-iceland-helps-mom-succeed-at-work-and-dad-succeed-at-home.html" rel="nofollow">https://slate.com/human-interest/2013/04/paternity-leave-in-...</a><p>Of course fathers can choose to take zero, but then that time is basically lost. Further changes (ibid):<p>> <i>The law was such a success that Iceland recently went a few steps further with a 5-2-5 policy: Mothers and fathers will soon each be entitled to five months of non-transferable leave, with an additional two months of shared leave.</i><p>Anyone from IS that can comment on this policy?
I worked for a US law firm in Tokyo for a number of years; my paternity leave was 3 days and I was expected to field emails as and when needed.<p>It is a race to the bottom, my friends - believe it.