Rapper Big Sean told a TMZ reporter that he would go on paternity leave once he and R&B singer Jhené Aiko welcomed their baby boy into the world.
While at the Los Angeles airport (LAX), a TMZ reporter asked about their son’s name, prompting the Detroit. native to say he didn’t know yet. The clip cuts to the reporter and the “Bounce Back” rapper walking with the TMZ reporter, asking for the amount of time efficient enough to have a bond with the baby during paternity leave.
“Well, I’m definitely taking some time for it to just be us,” the rapper responded. “So…you can’t really put a time limit on it. You got to feel it out.”
Big Sean agreed with the reporter that paternity leave should be addressed more in the entertainment industry.
According to a study conducted by the Pregnant Then Screwed charity, “One in four dads say that they continued to work whilst on paternity leave with half saying that there was an expectation from their employer that they would.”
And while there are many average American dads yearning to have longer paternity leave to spend that quality time with their newborn, many of them feel as though their employers don’t provide the necessary support for them to be able to do so, and they’re afraid taking that paternity leave could negatively impact their career. 80% of the surveyed fathers stated they didn’t have enough time to bond with their children.
Greg Childs, an assistant professor of history at Brandeis University, wrote about Black dads facing this dilemma on the Black Perspectives blog, published by the African American Intellectual History Society (AAIHS).
Childs used his experience to emphasize the problem that many Black dads have to choose between their children and work due to workplaces that refuse to allow dads quality time with their children. Black dads are celebrated when they abstain from the stereotype that they aren’t present for their children but are expected to be family men without taking paternity leave.
Per a Sis2Sis report, Aiko announced her pregnancy in July on Instagram. They hosted a lavish baby shower with a NASA theme three months later.
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