Paternity Leave Is More Than a Perk. It Builds a Baby’s Brain

—svetikd—Getty Images We often treat paternity leave like a company perk—something HR lists next to the gym stipend and the 401k match.

The research says we are wrong about that categorization.

Paternity leave should be part of routine medical care during this stage of life: interventions we already agree are worth investing in because the return on investment continues years later in a child’s brain.

The U.S. is one of the only wealthy nations on Earth with no federal guarantee of paid paternity leave .

The data on the impact of those first months on a child’s brain suggest we have been treating a critical developmental window like a scheduling inconvenience.

Employers and employees basically agree on a need to strive for work-life balance.

And while the gender equity argument is used to both advance and stymie conversations about paternity leave, it is more than a values fight.

It turns out that paternity leave and a father’s engagement during infancy is associated with better cognitive, social, and emotional regulation outcomes for the child that can be measured.

In a review of existing fatherhood research, Sarah Schoppe-Sullivan, a researcher at the Ohio State University, highlighted better peer relationships, higher intelligence test scores, greater math and language readiness and development, and more secure attachment formation among children who experience positive and sustained father involvement compared to those who don’t.

Though these trends are correlational, these father-involvement gains show up on report cards as early as preschool and can continue into adulthood.

One possible avenue through which these benefits pass from father to child is the quality of play.

Canadian researcher Daniel Paquette observed that father’s play often includes excitement, surprise, awe, and temporary shock and disruption for children, and this kind of interaction is the foundation for crucial developmental skills like risk-taking , personal efficacy , and self-advocacy.

Children who have more consistent positive engagement with their fathers have better outcomes across some of the main child mental-health domains, including anxiety, depression, and behavioral problems.

Paternity leave creates space for and helps develop active involvement like physical play, showing up to school events, and careful listening to a child, and these are connected to healthy child development .