Lebanese fathers are currently entitled to one paternity day while maternity leave was extended to 70 days a couple of years ago. The government has recently approved extending the paternity leave to three days but it still needs to be approved in the parliament.

This is definitely an improvement but it’s still not enough, and should be at least a couple of weeks in my opinion. The first few weeks after a baby is born are the toughest on parents and especially the mother and dads should be there to help out and bond with their new baby born. Most fathers I know take few days off to compensate for this ridiculous 1-day parental leave and most mothers extend their maternity leaves as well because 10 weeks is not enough as well.

I wish whoever worked on that matter had proposed a week instead of just three days.