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    I'm a new dad. Here's why I'm taking more parental leave than my wife.

    More than 70 percent of American fathers return to work less than two weeks after having a baby. Here is why I'm not one of them.
    by Greg Rosalsky Aug 22, 2023 7 minutes
    Greg Rosalsky looks at his new son in the hospital.

    My wife and I just had a baby. And, thanks to a generous parental leave policy hammered out between my union and my employer back in 2021, I'm about to take six months of paid leave. It's a once-in-a-lifetime chance for me to help our new son thrive during the critical early months of his existence.

    For you, Planet Money newsletter readers, this means the newsletter's frequency of publication will be temporarily scaled back — from once a week to once a month — until I return.

    For me, it means I'm going to be spending a lot less time reporting and writing, and a lot more time changing diapers, rocking my crying baby to sleep, and being the best father (and husband) I can be.

    Even before I started looking into the numbers on paternity leave, I knew, anecdotally, that my ability to do this was an incredible privilege. It's a shining opportunity to bond with my new child, support my recuperating wife, develop critical parenting skills, and, honestly, cope with inevitable sleep deprivation. Given the exorbitant cost of childcare in this country, it's also,

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