THIS Morning viewers were left raging after a panellist claimed that new dads SHOULD “go out and pay the bills” while their newborns stay at home “with mum”.
Discussing Prince Harry’s trip to Hague just four days after the birth of his first child, journalist Alley Einstein and presenter Vanessa Feltz argued over whether paternity should be scrapped.
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Arguing that men should continue working in the weeks after their child is born, Alley said: “I think there’s a lot of pressure on men, they don’t really know what to do.
“In those first few weeks after a child is born, that is really the quality bonding time for mum and child.”
In contrast, Alley highlighted how paternity leave can be seen as “forcing a man” into their child’s lives “when they’re not really sure what their role should be” .
Meanwhile, the mum also praised this special “bonding” time as when “the mother is still getting used to their baby” – but added that “a lot of women have the child and then expect the man to wait on them”.
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Praising Prince Harry for “stepping up” in his role as a father while also managing his work, Alley argued that new fathers should continue to “go out and pay the bills” in those first few weeks.
She added: “I don’t think my view is old-fashioned. I think it’s very very modern.”
UK law allows for fathers to have one or two weeks’ paid paternity leave following the birth or take shared paternal leave and pay with their partners.
However, Vanessa – who argued that paternity leave is equally as crucial for mums and dads – labelled Alley’s argument “bizarre”.
She fumed: “I’m absolutely aghast at pretty much everything you’ve just said.
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“A baby is a joint project! You have to make it together and you have to raise it together.”
She added: “It’s a terrible shame to consign a baby entirely to the mother, and suggest the father should have a walk-on part.
“Any bloke must want to – and should want to – be part of it from the very beginning.”
Unsurprisingly, This Morning viewers were quick to argue that new mothers need more support from their partners during this time.
One disgruntled viewer tweeted: “Scrapped?? It needs extending!!! Mothers need help and fathers need to grow that bond!”
Another added: “Women need MORE support after having a baby, not less.”
Drawing on her own experience, a third wrote: “Having recently had my daughter via emergency Cesarean, I wouldn’t have been able to cope if my fiance wasn’t able to take paternity leave! Needs to be longer I think!”
One user replied: “Give fathers that first couple of weeks but make it fully paid leave.
“The woman may have been the one to give birth but a father is just as much a parent as a mother. It’s not fair on them.”
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