Fathers petition parliament to extend paternity leave as soon as possible

When David Muscat Fenech Adami was expecting his first daughter, he counted his lucky stars that she was born on a Saturday, giving him two extra days off to add to his one day of paternity leave. “The excitement I had when I held my daughter for the first time was something I was looking forward to so much, but then I faced moments when I felt useless, as I could not support my wife more on a daily basis during the first few weeks,” he told Times of Malta. Things were slightly different when his second daughter was born last August, during the pandemic. He made sure he had saved as much time off as possible to spend with his newborn and was able to take a week and a half. Apart from being the father of Sophia and Emilia, Muscat Fenech Adami also runs the ‘The Maltese Daddy’ blog, where he shares his own experiences, challenges and advice to other fathers and partners. He is one of more than 2,000 who signed a petition to Malta’s parliament calling to implement paternity and parental leave in Malta under an EU directive yet to come into force here. Under Maltese law, mothers benefit from 18 weeks of paid leave , while fathers and partners are granted only one day of paternity...