In California and Other States, Dads Are Now Even With Moms in Paid Leave Claims

Karlo Campana is usually outnumbered these days. He has three young kids under age 4. On a recent Saturday, he played a mini game of basketball with his two older kids in their Southern California home, shooting a ball into a hoop on the door, while his baby boy watched from his bouncy chair. Campana took paid time off in May after the birth of his son — just as he did for his daughters. “You need that adjustment period,” he said. Campana, who works at an ad agency, said having the time off not to think about work — or worry about losing income during that time — was crucial for him and his family during a sleep-deprived period. “My wife isn’t doing it on her own,” he said. “She doesn’t feel like she’s alone on this journey. She feels like she has support.” He jokes that by kid No. 3 he thought he had nailed diaper changes without getting peed on — but he was wrong. “The benefits are I get to spend time with each of them when they were in the infant stage, the baby stage, and I get to hold them and, you know, change the poopy diapers,” he said. “ It’s like the funny moments of, like, being a parent, like, ‘This is it right here, you’re in the thick of it.’” Campana is among a growi...