Mark Zuckerberg Is Winning Hearts For His Two-Month Paternity Leave
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg who is expecting his second child with wife Priscilla Chan has decided to take two month’s paternity leave. He announced his leave through a Facebook post on Friday.
“Our new daughter is coming soon, and I'm planning to take two months of paternity leave again. This time, I'm going to take advantage of Facebook's option to take leave in parts. I'll take a month off to be with Priscilla and the girls at the beginning, and then we'll spend the whole month of December together as well. I'm looking forward to bonding with our new little one and taking Max on adventures,” his post read.
Till late Saturday night, more than 600,000 Facebook users had liked his post and was shared 18,000 times. Moreover, the post became a platform for discussion of issues related to paternity and maternity leave with more than 25,000 people commenting on it till late Saturday night.
While some Facebook user appreciated the move by Zuckerberg, some other criticized government’s policies on paternity and maternity leaves and asked governments of their respective countries to take steps.
“It's awesome that you're setting the example for the rest of the company in taking this time off. Too often people get the time but don't take it. It's an incredible benefit and one that I and my family so appreciative of.” commented Russ Maschmeyer on Zuckerburg's post.
Another Facebook user Amy Bendell wrote, “Thanks for setting a great example, Mark. Congrats to you on your growing family! Sisters are the best, but you already know that.”
While most posts on the social media website appreciated Facebook’s policies, some said that a lot more was needed to be done. “It amazes me that four months is seen as revolutionary in the U.S. Maternity leave is nine months in the U.K. with the option to extend it up to 12 months if the last three months are taken unpaid. There is also the option to share this leave too - so each parent could potentially take six months each,” a Facebook user Tamara Farrar wrote.
Some people living in countries like Canada, Germany, and Sweden also said that the U.S. was lagging behind in maternity and paternity leave policies.
“Mark, here in Germany we have a paid maternity leave of 12 months. If you see it from this perspective, the U.S. is a developing nation. In questions of family, healthcare etc we are way ahead of you,” wrote Sina Burkhardt, a Facebook user.
Replying to Burkhardt’s post, another Facebook user, Ngoundu Gauffin wrote, “Same in Sweden a year maternity with full payment from the government. After then, free schools even international schools for the child till to the university.”
This is not the first time Zuckerberg had taken a paternity leave. Back in 2015 after the birth of his first child Maxima Chan Zuckerberg, he had announced that he would be taking a paternity leave.
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