The prime minister of Great Britain, fresh from a two-week country holiday during which his wife prematurely delivered a new baby, has announced that he’s taking paternity leave. The affairs of state that David Cameron was elected to run this past May he has now entrusted to his deputy, a rival from a competing political party.
A prime minister taking paternity leave! Doesn’t it sound preposterous — embarrassing, even? Can you imagine an American head of government doing such a thing?
Cutting back on work for a few days makes sense. The early hours after an infant comes home are strange and precious, as everyone in the household comes to grips with the presence of a newcomer (or, as the next-oldest child is likely to think, an invader).
New mothers need lots of rest. The family’s other children, if they exist, need reassurance that they haven’t been wholly supplanted in their parents’ hearts. The newborn needs its kibble, and to snooze. Fathers are irreplaceable in family life. When a woman has just had a C-section as did Samantha Cameron, she certainly needs someone around with sufficient upper-body strength to pop the champagne. Furthermore, when one is abed, recuperating, it’s pleasant to have one’s husband pop in to say hello and kiss the baby.
But Mr. Cameron seems absurd. For a newly elected political leader to relinquish power — to a competitor! – so as to hang about the house while his wife recovers from childbirth is not so much enlightened as frankly bizarre.
The British prime minister is a man whose job, after all, comes with drivers and cooks and household staff. Surely these individuals could plump Mrs. Cameron’s pillows and fix porridge for the couple’s two older children.
Maternity leave is a separate issue. If Margaret Thatcher had been surprised with a late-life baby (she’d waited until her twins were in school before entering public life), then, sure, for her to have taken time off to bond with her baby would have been perfectly appropriate. I suspect she would have been able easily to cradle a nursing infant in one hand while writing a rousing speech with the other. For that matter, as governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin managed to feed her baby and take conference calls at the same time. American women do this sort of juggling all the time, and they, not men, are the ones actually having the babies.
It’s true that Europeans find Americans unwholesomely workaholic. They take six-week vacation; we take two (if we’re lucky). In Britain, thanks to a law passed by Tony Blair’s Labor government, men are entitled to two weeks paid leave when a baby arrives and no doubt it’s a help for families that lack the staff of 10 Downing Street.
Having expressed his intention to make Britain the most family-friendly country in Europe, David Cameron is clearly hoping to lead by example. But, really, what an odd example it is.
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Meghan Cox Gurdon’s column appears on Sunday and Thursday. She can be contacted at [email protected].
