Absolutely! I completely agree that parental leave — not just maternity leave — is crucial for creating and maintaining gender equality in the workplace and in families.

My point is only about the tactics being used to advocate for it. I think the narrative that we need parental leave because children need a parent at home does more harm than good. For one thing, people have believed children need a parent at home for centuries, and it drove policies that kept women out of the workforce, not policies that helped parents of all genders maintain both jobs and families.

We should be arguing for gender-neutral parental leave on the grounds that it is a human right (of the parents, not the children), that it will increase productivity for employers, that equality demands leave not differentiate between mothers and fathers. Those are all productive ways to advocate that don’t undermine respect for working mothers.