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MR FEATURES Cuba's Maternity Leave Extended to Fathers,
As early as 1963, Cuba adopted a maternity leave law that granted women 12 weeks fully-paid maternity leave. The law has been modified several times since, expanding the duration of paid maternity leave so that today, Cuba's maternity and parental leave legislation is among the most progressive in the hemisphere: pregnant women are entitled to 18 weeks fully-paid leave (six weeks before birth and 12 after), plus an additional 40 weeks at 60% pay, assured of returning to their same job. Women had campaigned for the extension of paid leave from the 12th week after birth to the end of the first year because they wanted to spend more time with their newborns and because children were no longer admitted to the national subsidized day care system until they had reached one year of age.[1] They were supported by physicians who defended the importance of extended breast-feeding. Prior to the adoption of the modified law in 2001, women without family members or friends willing or able to care for their babies or the financial resources to hire someone to do so until they reached a year old (45 days old prior to 1990), had to drop out of work without pay in order to care for the infant themselves. However, until very recently, no similar benefits were extended to fathers, thus reinforcing the notion that only women should nurture newborns. In 2003, the government took another step towards breaking down the traditional division of family duties by giving either the father or the mother the option of taking paid leave at 60% of salary to care for their infants from 12 weeks up to one year of age. The parents may opt for the father to take the leave whether or not the couple is married.
Although the legislation is expressly geared to promote the "shared responsibility of the mother and father" in the care and rearing of their children, the law does not grant paid leave for the father to attend the birth or to assist the mother in the days or weeks immediately following birth. Guillermo Ferriol, one of the labor lawyers involved in the drafting of the legislation commented that the issue of leave for the father at the time of birth did not come up during discussions leading to the new law and thus was not taken under consideration. Men do, however, increasingly attend the birth of their children and may even take a few days off following the birth to help the mother, but to do so they must use some of their 30 days annual vacation time (see Accompanied Labor: A New Step in Cuba's Maternal-Child Health Program, this issue). Since it is common for new mothers to be helped by extended family members or friends in the weeks immediately after birth, legislators may not have taken into account situations where this is not the case or the other benefits of having the father present during the first few days. So Far, Few Have Chosen Paternity Leave In a historically machista culture, a policy encouraging full participation of fathers in childcare is indeed revolutionary. The only other country in the hemisphere to provide similar benefits to fathers is Canada [see Table 1 ]. Yet, to date, relatively few fathers have taken advantage of the new law in Cuba. In fact, Trabajadores , the weekly newspaper of the Central Organization of Cuban Workers (CTC), reports that since the adoption of the new law almost two years ago, only 17 fathers have taken the extended leave in order to stay home and care for the newborn infant while the mother returns to work.[3] Table 1: Maternity and Parental Leave Policies in Selected Countries
The reasons that so few fathers have taken the option are varied. According to sources quoted in Trabajadores, the reasons are basically twofold: 1) many men and women are not yet aware that this option exists or do not fully understand its application; and 2) women are, and continue to be, the primary caretakers, despite efforts to encourage participation of men. One male worker provided this explanation as to why men are not readily caring for their newborns: "It's hard for us to feed them, change diapers and, above all, hold and [bottle feed] them when they cry and we can't figure out why. So you don't know what to do in that situation." In addition, women generally prefer to stay with their infants during the first year. Also, breast feeding is encouraged by health care workers, and although new mothers are entitled to an hour off from work daily for nursing, many women may consider this insufficient, especially since manual or electric breast pumps are not widely available. Alejandra González, a lawyer whose daughter was born in 2002, told MEDICC Review that she took advantage of the extended leave because she wanted to nurse her child and be with her during her infancy. Although her husband helps a great deal, González says, "If I have another child, I'd take the leave again rather than my husband, even though it is difficult to set aside my professional work for a full year." Why Some Fathers Do Take Paternity Leave
A few fathers recount having taken care of their newborn child even before the new law was adopted. As reported in Trabajadores , Randy Rodríguez, a photojournalist, was ribbed by his colleagues at work because he bathed his infant daughter and made her breakfast before taking her to daycare everyday. Another father, an industrial mechanic from Pinar del Río, laments that the legislation did not exist when he left his job to take care of his daughter so that his wife could continue her career since she was the bigger breadwinner. The new law provides additional work leave for the father if the mother dies during or after childbirth. Previously, although the father may have had no other choice but to leave his job to care for the child, he was not entitled to the subsidy or guarantees that the mother received. Under the new law, in such circumstances the father is granted fully-paid leave for the first 12 weeks after birth, as well as 60% pay up to one year. Moreover, a grandparent or other close relative may exercise the right to this leave in place of the father. Additional Benefits for Healthy Births and Babies For obvious reasons, certain benefits that are designed to promote healthy births inure only to the mother. Thus, a number of labor laws are intended to protect women from activities that may be harmful during pregnancy. Further, from the time a woman becomes pregnant, she may take six paid days off (or 12 half-days) during her pregnancy to receive prenatal care. She is required by law to stop working at 34 weeks (32 weeks in cases of multiple births), and granted fully-paid leave until the birth, after which she receives another 12 weeks of fully-paid leave. In addition, after the child is born, the law facilitates regular well-baby check-ups during the first year of life. Thus, if neither parent takes the subsidized leave, then either parent is entitled to take one day off a month to take the child to the pediatrician, and may take additional days off without pay if the child becomes ill. NOTES & REFERENCES
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Since the early 1970s, Cuban family law has required men to share equally with their wives and partners in household chores and the care and nurturing of children, regardless of whether each contributed equally to the family's financial support. Yet, machismo inherited from patriarchal traditions posed a formidable barrier to achieving such equality. Indeed, many Cuban laws and regulations reflected and maintained the stereotypical role of women as the sole nurturer and caretaker. For example, until the 1980s, only women could accompany children and family members overnight in hospitals.