A quick note about Fatherly

Dear Fatherly Readers,

Today, in a live stream, Fatherly’s co-founder Mike Rothman is testifying for the House Ways & Means Committee on the importance of, and urgency for Congress to pass, federal family and medical leave.

It’s a big moment for Fatherly, families, and workers. We’re prepared for it.
As a company, Fatherly was born out of the acknowledgment that dads have been underserved in traditional media and haven’t been recognized for their changing role as caregivers and at times primary parents. Our mission from the start has been to empower men to raise great kids and lead more fulfilling lives.

We do this, primarily, through journalism, offering expert-driven resources for dads on everything from public policy to developmental milestones to how to talk to teachers to the best games for kids and how to divide labor fairly in a relationship. This is what you come to us for — the stuff that is daily delivered to your inbox.

To that end, covering gender-neutral, inclusive, federal paid family and medical leave for American families has been a part of the mission editorially since nearly day one. From engaging interviews to investigative reports to our Best Places to Work guides (for Moms, Dads, and Remote Workers, Fatherly has focused on federal paid leave — and the vast impacts it would have for dads, moms, daughters, sons, and siblings. It has become one of the linchpins of our public policy coverage.

The evidence from our reporting is clear. Paid leave is good for employers, working parents, and kids.

How so? In brief:

For employers:

Dozens of studies have found that paid family and medical leave reduce worker turnover, has no adverse effect, or even a positive effect, on productivity, and increases or has no adverse effect on company morale. 90 percent of businesses in a study out of California found that the state’s paid leave plan increased (or did not decrease) worker productivity, and 99 percent of companies surveyed said that the program had positive, or neutral, effects on employee morale.

For working parents:

Studies have found, time and time again, that paid leave access increases relationship happiness, parental bonding, decreases stress, and leads to better health outcomes. It lessens burnout. All of these things are good for workers, but they’re also good for the companies people work for. Of dozens of studies that Richard J. Petts has done on the subject, he’s found that paternity and parental leave leads to happier marriages, decreased risk of divorce, and stronger bonds with children.

For kids:

There are numerous benefits for kids whose parents receive paid family leave. Many health benefits, according to the American Action Forum, include increased regularity of well-baby check-ups, greater rates of immunization, increased likelihood and duration of breastfeeding, and increased parental care and engagement. Furthermore, this is a crucial time for parents to learn to become caregivers. Early interactions therefore influence parenting behaviors and a child’s long-term cognitive, social, and emotional development and can last long into adulthood and into many aspects of adult well-being and social and economic productivity.

This could well sum up the argument for our co-founder as he testifies to the House. But Mike will also be able to speak to his experience running a small business and employing parents as in a start-up that worked its way towards a family-first culture. He will also be speaking as a business leader and CEO who is alarmed by the fact that nearly every other developed and wealthy country in the world has some form of paid leave from 2 to 21 months. The fact is that the United States stands alone in how little it provides to working parents, and how much it expects from them in return.

Ultimately, the fight for paid leave can’t stop at good companies doing the right thing. Because for as long as that happens, only those with salaries and full-time jobs will have access to an essential benefit offered around the world, and having access to this essential benefit will make workers subject to what they do.

Universal paid parental leave would be a massive step forward for workers, employers, and families in the United States. It's time.

Tyghe Trimble
Editor-in-Chief | Fatherly
[email protected]

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