What About the Father's Leave? It is Parenting, Not Just Mothering

Gist The Tamil Nadu government has extended maternity leave for women government employees having a third child from 12 weeks to 365 days . While the state frames this as a measure for women's empowerment and a demographic response to declining fertility rates, the policy inadvertently reinforces the traditional burden of caregiving on women by ignoring paternity leave. Civil services aspirants must analyze this development through the lens of gender-neutral parental leave, the economic costs of child-rearing, and the ethical implications of using state welfare to manage demographic targets. Background Under standard Indian labor regulations, modeled largely on the central Maternity Benefit Amendment Act, 2017 , women are entitled to 26 weeks of leave for the first two children, but the benefit drops to 12 weeks for a third child. The Madras High Court recently observed that the physical and caregiving demands of childbirth do not diminish during a third pregnancy, necessitating the removal of this arbitrary cap. Tamil Nadu has a historical legacy of structural reforms for women rooted in Periyar's Self-Respect Movement , which viewed motherhood and marriage…