More than 200,000 people request that maternity and paternity leave be for 32 weeks
Have a child and have access to 32 weeks of maternity and paternity leave to recover after childbirth, adapt to all changes and be present at the most vital moments of the newborn's life. That is what they are requesting More than 200,000 people from Spain through their signatures to a petition through the Change.org platform, which seeks to reach 300,000.
The petition was launched by a Spanish woman named Elena Tena at the beginning of July, and in less than a month she has almost achieved her goal: 300,000 people support the initiative by requesting the Minister of Employment, Fátima Báñez, a reconsideration of the leave days after having a child.
"The current permit policy is uprooting the babies of the parents, and that is unnatural ", explained the promoter of the idea, referring to the fact that currently in Spain mothers have 16 weeks of permission, while parents have only two.
Something striking about this initiative is that the promoter is not a mother: "being autonomous and working in my own study, motherhood is not something that I can aspire to right now, unfortunately," she says. However, it is an example of empathy: he has seen friends pass "True Calvaries" due to the short period of time between delivery and return to work, which has made this woman get down to work.
Reasons to extend maternity and paternity leave
In her petition, Tena assures that respond to the demands of the baby "It fosters a sense of confidence in him, which consolidates throughout the first year and is of vital importance". At this point, he adds: "if the child can trust the people who care for him, he will not see the world as a threatening place and will learn to trust others as well".
"It is essential to extend the periods of maternity and paternity to take care of their children and protect their employment when they return to work, with a period of adaptation to the position where they can not suffer mobbing," he asks, adding 10 reasons for this:
1. Protect the birth
2. Protect the rights of babies
3. Protect the Back to work of mothers / fathers
4. Protect the lactation (WHO advises 6 months exclusive breastfeeding)
5. Protect the conciliationwork and family
6. Guarantee sustainability economic of the family
7. Prevent your child from taking care of him so small a strange
8. Avoid having to Leave your employment
9. Avoid the mobbing work to return to your job
10. Guarantee the babies the parenting by their parents, who are the ones who will do it the best?
directive Europe
The promoter of the idea recalls in her writing that the European directive on maternity leave "is 23 years old and has hardly changed since its approval". Under this rule, governments must give women a minimum of 14 weeks of permission, something that this woman (and many others) consider insufficient.
"It is time to ask all the parties and, specifically, the government, to commit to establishing a maternity / paternity leave of at least 32 weeks in Spain, as the most advanced European countries already do, "he says, referring to cases such as Finland, where women have a 37-week permit.
Employment and birth
In her petition, Elena also mentions the importance of protect the work of parents then, as he says, "in Spain there is a little fear of losing the job because of having a child", which means that in our country "fewer and fewer children are born". "While in countries like Sweden and Noriega they have managed to exponentially increase their birth rates thanks to the fact that they have implemented policies to support motherhood, in Spain there is practically no aid of this kind," he complains.
His arguments have convinced more than 200,000 people, and the accountant keeps going up. "I am a woman and I want to be a mother and take care of my baby without having to give up my salary. I have no family other than my partner where I live. I do not want a stranger to take care of my son before 8 months at least. And I want to feed it exclusively with breastfeeding, "says one of the signatories.
Others (both men and women), comment that it is a request "fair" and "logical", and that helps "protect the rights of babies." "Our babies need us," explains another of the many mothers who have signed.
Angela R. Bonachera
