Fathers want to help with childcare—their jobs won’t let them

We’re in the midst of a child care crisis in America, but when fathers want to take on more childcare to equal their partners’ efforts, they are being stymied by their employers. Max, who requested to go by a pseudonym, spent 15 years as a contractor: no benefits, little job security, and frequent change. When recruited for a full-time role, he was upfront about his wife’s pregnancy and his need to take parental leave when their first-born child was due. “I said, ‘I’m going to be flexible—I don’t have to take off right away and I can do it in stints.’ I was offering these different plans because it was important to me for the company to be successful,” Max says. “The recruiter said ‘Don’t even worry about it. Take your leave, and the company policy is 16 weeks.’” When Max accepted the job offer, this flexibility evaporated. A company representative told him, “Sorry for the misinformation you received, but this is our policy and we will not be making an exception.” They’ve held fi