Recently, the Maternity and Paternity Leave Bill 2019 in the Senate has been met with aversion and rancour by many political leaders and policy makers. One such political leader is FederalMinister of Economic Affairs Muhammad Hammad Azhar, who opposed the bill. He did it for all the right reasons, with somevalid facts that clearly exposed the shortcomings of the bill.
Azhar was lambasted by some members of theopposition as they claimed that he was not progressive enough.Some others from the opposition kept nodding their heads while he commented on the bill in the Senate, “The 90-day maternity leave bill already exists in law andthe new bill proposes declining maternity leaves for each of the additional baby.” Azhar called this illogical as the circumstances surrounding each birth are the same as well as the importance.
On paternity leave, Minister Azhar said, “The proposed three months are too long since Pakistan is a poor country, and majority of the countries don’t have such long paternityleaves.” He suggested the paternity leave to be of only 15 days.
Little does the opposition know that they are living in a mirage, an imaginary bubble of ignorance they had trapped themselves into as the bill has a lot of problems. On paper, what seems as a praiseworthy bill is in reality plagued with many defects. Similar to a chink in one’s armour, this rather perfect looking bill has so many fallacies that it could be predicted that this bill wouldbe battered in the National Assembly. Again, it is our policy makers that are at fault when proposing a bill, which could have reaped wonders and had the potential of doing so if it had been put forward with a more thorough research and planning backing it.
Another loophole is the way this new bill tries to abrogate the ideal clauses set in the existing maternity leave bill with its own flawed set of rules
With the maternity bill already existing as a part of the legislature, this new bill was bound to have many problems and opposition. To bringup a new law that is already present is just ludicrous and unheard of. Another loophole is the way this new bill tries to abrogate the ideal clauses set in the existing maternity leave bill with its own flawed set of rules. The already existing bill grants a maximum of 90 days of maternity paid leave. This new bill, on the contrary, proposes declining maternity leaves for each successive child born. This is just plain stupid and undermines the importance of the children born after the first child. Aren’t all children equal in the eyes of their parents so why would someone propose such absurdity that is bound to be opposed by everyone?
Furthermore, the proposed number of months for paternity leave is too long since Pakistan is a poor developing country, and it may not have enough fruitful jobs that could pay off for the fathers during their leave for months. This law, in reality, is a defective copy of the paternity leave laws that are implemented in developed and affluent countries. Our country doesn’t have those high paying jobs that could help someone stay at home easily without working for about three months.
This bill is just a reflection of our mindset like when we argue Sweden or other countries have such laws and that is why we should have them too. We are enslaved by our inferiority complex and belief that following or applying the laws of western world as it is, we can be just like them while forgetting that there is a plethora of different issues that require immediate attention.
If the proposed number of days of leave for fathers could be truncated to 15 days, it could have been a far more impactful bill.This is also closerto the number of paternity leaves around the globe. Even highly developed countries have far less paternity (dad) leaves than 15 days. Countries like Australia and the United Kingdom have 14 days of leave, France has 11 days andItaly, Singapore and Netherlands have a two-day leave. All of these countries pay only minimum wages during the paid paternity leaves. Then there is the United States too with no leave for dads at all.The new bizarre bill just advocates for the incompetency and lack of vision of our policy makers.
However, if we were to address the elephant in the room, and that is the rapid population growth, this could also prove to be a nail in the coffin. Pakistan has a very low infertility rate and consequently, a rapidly increasing birth rate. On the other hand, Pakistan has very limited resources. If a bill of this manner is passed, this could also mean a population explosion in Pakistanbecause it will incentivise childbirth as it happens in some other countries because of smaller or aging population.
Some wealthy countries that have alarmingly low fertility rates offer a greater number and a higher paid leaveas well ascash incentives,and these are the countries with a very low population.But they are affluent compared to Pakistan and have plenty of resources to back them up. Pakistan emulating these countries can face many troubles as we have a high fertility rate.
Sweden is also an example of following a policy where parents get enough time through a leave to give birth to a successive child and reset the allowance and incentives given by government.Through that scheme, parents can live off the government for a staggering 10 years without even going for work if they have five properly spaced children. Sweden is often criticised for this policy, but it is one of the wealthiest countries with one of the highest GDP per capita.If a country like Sweden wants to set up laws like that it can because of its huge resources, but Pakistan, on the other hand, is struggling with resources and poverty.
This bill can also adversely affect and disturb the employment spectrum of Pakistan as granting such a highly paid leave to younger employees can certainly discourage employers from hiring them as they are the demographic that will be having babies. With less youngsters hired, there will also be an increased shift in the trend of mental diseases and depression that could inversely affect many families in Pakistan that rely on one or two people supporting the entire household. This could in turn lead to mass depression and many cases of violence within Pakistan.
It is to note that policy makers should try to place extra effort and examine different resources and demographics before devising such policies or laws. Copying the west blindly may make us a westernised nation but it wouldn’t make us modernised one. What we want is up to our policy and law makers to decide.
The writer is a TV presenter and producer with Hum News. She is an International Alumni Ambassador for Manchester Metropolitan University, UK