It's TED Talks Daily. I'm your host, Elise Hugh.

Dads should be taking time off after a new baby is born, because paternity leave benefits everyone, including businesses.

Author and feminism advocate Shue Matsuo Post makes that case from an episode of our video series, The Way We Work.

I remember the day.

My wife was three months pregnant, and I knew that I wanted to take time off.

But when I walked in to ask my boss, I was so nervous.

I was about to ask for seven months of paternity leave.

And I just didn't know how my boss would react to that.

Like most men in Japan, I grew up being told that masculinity is supposed to look a certain way.

You're supposed to be stoic and strong, dominant and in control,

the breadwinner for your family. But when I met my wife, she challenged me on that. She pushed me

on thinking, the men should always pay for dates on assuming that women should always do the child

care. Japan offers both mothers and fathers 12 months of paid parental leave. It's been ranked

number one in the world in terms of length and compensation for paternity leave.

But here's the crazy thing.

In 2020, only about 7% of fathers took it.

And of that 7%, 3 quarters took a leave of 2 weeks or less.

With pressure at work, most Japanese men just aren't at home during this pivotal time.

And that's a shame, because paternity leave, it benefits everyone.

Here's why normalizing it is so important.

I believe deeply in gender equality.

I took my wife's last name and even wrote a book about it.

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