Paternity Leave Is More Than a Perk. It Builds a Baby’s Brain

We often treat paternity leave like a company perk—something HR lists next to the gym stipend and the 401k match. The research says we are wrong about that categorization. Paternity leave should be part of routine medical care during this stage of life: interventions we already agree are worth investing in because the return on investment continues years later in a child’s brain. The U.S. is one of the only wealthy nations on Earth with no federal guarantee of paid paternity leave. The data on the impact of those first months on a child’s brain suggest we have been treating a critical developmental window like a scheduling inconvenience. Employers and employees basically agree on a need to strive for work-life balance. And while the gender equity argument is used to both advance and stymie conversations about paternity leave, it is more than a values fight. It turns out that paternity leave and a father’s engagement during infancy is associated with better cognitive, social, and emotional regulation outcomes for the child that can be measured. In a review of existing fatherhood research, Sarah Schoppe-Sullivan, a researcher at the Ohio State University, highlighted better peer rela...