Should Non-Parents Get Extra Time Off?

Recently I came across an interesting argument over parental leave. My situation was unique and I never had to worry about maternity leave, but plenty of mothers—as well as fathers—need it every year to help get into the swing of being a new parent.

Not only do many mothers need maternity leave for health reasons—particularly during high risk pregnancies—but both mothers and fathers need it to give adequate care for their young one. In many countries, the entire family helps with a new baby; in some, doctors or government supplied helpers are even sent to the home for regular visits or help with care.

Since we don’t have those programs in America, it’s that much more important that parents—or at least one parent—receive time off to care for a baby, especially during the first few weeks when he or she isn’t sleeping through the night. An exhausted parent isn’t about to provide a company with his or her best work, either; I remember hallucinating from sleep deprivation when I first had my daughter and my work certainly reflected that!

As important as all of this—and other factors—are in creating a healthy home for a new baby and his or her parents, the question remains—what benefits do other, non-parent employees get? After all, having a baby was the parent’s decision, not the company’s, and if people choose not to produce babies, shouldn’t they still get equal time off? In that light, should new mothers and fathers be forced to take vacation or sick days instead of a maternity or paternity leave in order to make the whole situation equal across the board?

Women (and men) have worked so hard to secure maternity leave—and it’s still not always available—that it almost seems like a slap in the face to even ask the question. But the truth of the matter is that it’s not equitable for one person to have more days off than another because he or she has a child. What about people with sick relatives or pets? Sure, sometimes they might have sick or personal days to take—though not always—but they don’t have weeks to take off.

It’s almost like how my husband complains that smokers get more down time at work than he does. Some employees take extensive smoke breaks—even every hour—so why doesn’t he get a, say, extra snack break to be fair?

What do you think? Should non-parents be given the potential of extra time off if it’s given to parents?