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ast year Vice President Jusuf Kalla proposed a reduction in work hours for women who have infants. It was encouragement for working mothers, but it also raised fears of reduced participation by women in the workforce.

Our policies are still based on the traditional division of labor whereby husbands are the breadwinners and wives take care of the home and family. The Vice President'€™s proposal led to worries that more companies would be reluctant to hire women, as they would be seen as liabilities if they became pregnant.

Meanwhile, campaigns for paternity leave have stepped up with the posting of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg'€™s picture with his newborn in November. Followed by Facebook'€™s announcement of four months'€™ fully paid '€œbaby leave'€ policy for all employees, Zuckerberg'€™s picture with baby Max meant a lot for the escalating campaign for paternity leave.

The involvement of fathers in taking care of kids has a double benefit for both families and the workforce. Research in recent decades has found that in comparison with less involved fathers, children with fathers who provide routine childcare have higher levels of psychological well-being and better cognitive abilities. Those children also have higher levels of education, higher economic achievements and lower rates of delinquency. These findings involved children from all socioeconomic backgrounds, whether or not the mother was highly involved.

Shifting the perspective that bringing up children is not only a woman'€™s job would encourage more women to enter the workforce. It has been an unspoken rule that to be considered '€œequal'€ with males, women have to perform much better and excel among their male counterparts '€” regardless of cramps during their periods and after having a baby.

In Indonesia maternity leave is a maximum of 90 days before and after labor, which is not enough. Women often have to deal with breastfeeding problems and many other issues soon after returning to work. Often breast milk production stops because of the double strain of work and home. Therefore many Indonesian women rely on formula and hand over their infants to nannies or relatives '€” thus reducing the mother-baby attachment in the infant'€™s very first phase of life.

Many developed countries realize the importance of maternity leave, like Britain, which provides up to 52 weeks. The ideal maternity leave should be available to Indonesian women. Raising the next generation is not only the job of nannies and day care. Parental issues must be part of our workforce policies; Indonesia needs a proper policy on '€œparental leave'€ to improve gender equality and provide the best options for our next generation.
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The writer is a former journalist.