Canberrans are calling on the federal government to better its paid parental leave policies, as a report warns of the barriers men face trying to strike a balance between work and caring for children.
Recruitment agency Randstad's Return to Work report, released this week, found more than 70 per cent of Australians think employers should do more to support new dads.
Nearly 60 per cent of survey respondents said the biggest issue facing fathers was having to weigh-up caring for their newborn and earning a living. Nearly 50 per cent believed dads contend with the stigma of traditional gender roles.
"In the tradie world, they don't have the capacity to [take more leave]," Googong resident Courtney Holland said.
"You've only got a certain amount of time to get those jobs done and obviously, men feel they need to provide."
While the report puts the onus on employers to improve support for new fathers, locals say change begins with the government.
Recent research out of the Australian National University found the country was "lagging behind" others in the OECD on paid parental leave. The 18-week minimum wage model for primary carers - which came into effect in 2011 - was intended to be an "incremental step" towards supporting parents.
The uptake for the government's two-week Dad and Partner Pay was between 36 and 50 per cent, and many thought it was not worthwhile ,given it also offered the minimum wage.
"Because you have to take leave without pay [to get the partner allowance], we would actually have been worse off financially," Casey resident Fiona Mitchell said.
Icelandic academic Asdis Aoalbjorg Arnalds, who was in Australia this week to present her research into paid paternal leave, found a correlation between the length of leave taken and fathers' involvement in children's care after it was over.
Iceland offers both parents three months paid leave at 80 per cent of their income. Nearly 80 per cent report an equal division of care in the country.
"Australia could do this now by exploring similar policies to expand its current [leave allowances] ... towards the three months leave which is required of fathers in the early stages of their child's life in Iceland," Australia Institute Nordic Policy Centre Professor Andrew Scott said.
While 50 per cent of Australian employers did not offer parental leave 'top ups' to government payments, Commonwealth employees - who were primary carers - received 12 weeks additionally under the Maternity Leave Act.
Paid leave on top of that varied between departments and government bodies. Comcare and the Department of Human Services offered two weeks additional paid leave for men and women - making it a total potential 32 weeks for women with Centrelink's paid leave, and four for men.
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The Department of Home Affairs offered four weeks leave for supporting partners, and the Department of Infrastructure offered six.
The Australian National University offered parents 26 weeks at full-pay, with the ability to transfer between co-working parents after the first 14 weeks; 15 days for partner leave was also offered, as well as carer re-entry assistance of up to six weeks.
The University of Canberra offered up to 20 weeks paid leave for primary carers, as well as 15 days for partners after their child's birth, and 15 days at half pay when they returned to work.
Generally, the leave could be extended if parents elected to take it at half pay.
More than half of survey respondents wanted all family or medical leave policies to apply to men.
"I do still think there's that [attitude of] well, women should just take [any additional necessary time] off because they've been at home on leave for the whole time, so it's just naturally up to them," Mrs Mitchell said.
