Paternity leave will become a reality in Barbados, but any conversation on the matter has to go further than implementation and the length of time men will be granted leave. It will have to deal with transgender issues as well. Besides that, says Reverend Clayton Springer, retired director of the National Assistance Board and social worker, the perception of family has to be added to the discussion.
Springer comments came in the second of the three-part series examining the topic Is Paternity Leave Essential? held at the Weston Resource Centre, St James.
He was addressing a point made by Karina Browne, the 2019 St Peter Parish Ambassador, when she said that consideration must be given to how any policy changes would impact on others outside of the normative mother and father relationship. She said: “We have these different types of sexual orientations, these different types of relationships and so they would need to be informed of parental guidance. They would need to have those skills at their disposal.”
Springer, one of the five-member panel which advanced arguments supporting paternity leave, including that it leads to increased productivity, said that his church would back the motion of paternity as it was one that would assist families “to thrive and not just survive”. (GBM)
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