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It’s not every day that you hear about a man taking parental leave – and definitely not for a period of greater than 3 months. Luke Mitchell did just that.
Luke is a father of three boys and a management consultant at PWC. He is also a keen advocate of flexible working and innovative parental leave policies.
Our discussion with Luke is open and honest. We talk about:
- How the implementation by PWC of a paid 18 weeks parental leave policy (for either parent) was the game changer that led to him taking parental leave with not just one, but two, of his children.
- The incredible statistic that in the last 12 months more men than women took parental leave in the PWC Perth office.
- The biggest benefits to Luke being the chance to create solid bonds with his sons and to help his wife resume and further her career.
- How parental leave can look different when taken by a father as opposed to a mother and how reading The Wife Drought by Annabel Crabb changed his thinking.
- Misconceptions that people have asking questions like “What are you going to do all day?” and telling him to “Enjoy his break”.
- Tips for other dads who want to take parental leave such as co-parenting from the beginning to ease the fear of being solely responsible for your child.
- The important of communicating with your partner, work and everyone on a consistent basis.
- How Luke’s wife feels about her husband being feted for doing what many women feel all dads should be doing as a matter of course.
Important links:
- Luke’s interview with The West Australian
- Our interview with Penny Rush of PWC
- Connect with Luke on LinkedIn
- The Juggle Community, our online Facebook group
- Find us on Instagram and Facebook
- The Juggle website, where you can find all episodes of The Juggle and sign up to be notified when a new episode is released
Happy juggling!