The Vice President’s New Baby and the Case for Paternity Leave

Vice President JD Vance has fashioned himself as one of the highest profile pronatalists in American public life. He has has spent years asserting that America needs more babies and more support for families. This appears to be one of his top priorities, evidenced by his very first remarks as vice president at the March for Life in 2025: "I want more happy children in our country, and I want beautiful young men and women who are eager to welcome them into the world and eager to raise them." 

This past January, he announced his wife was expecting their fourth child, stating, “let the record show you have a vice president who practices what he preaches.” Vance is only the second sitting vice president in more than 150 years to become a father in office. The birth of his fourth child this summer was a historic moment, and a public embrace of the family life he champions. Unfortunately, he did not get to enjoy one of the immediate pleasures of welcoming a newborn: formal paternity leave.

Speaking to NBC News earlier this summer, Vance explained: "It's one of these jobs where it's impossible to completely disconnect from it.” For someone holding the second highest office in the land, there’s a need to get right back to work. More recently, he joked on Fox News about the president encouraging him to take some time off on the day of his son's birth—even though they still had a meeting the next day.

While the vice president might not be able to take as much time off, he highlights a consistent cultural tension between careerism and family life. Across the West, there is a real ideological competition between the importance of work and family. Vance has spoken about this issue and even urged Americans to recognize that 

you're never gonna find great meaning in a cubicle or in front of a computer screen…But you will find great meaning if you dedicate yourself to the creation and sustenance of human life. 

For any brand-new dad, one of the first critical points in navigating the balance of family and work are decisions around how much time to take off work. While the vice president is a special case, we can look at American dads, in aggregate, and derive insights about some of the key trends around paternity leave. At what rate are new dads taking leave? Which dads are taking paternity leave and for how long? Why, if at all, does it matter? 

In fact, fathers are taking leave at record rates in the United States, a trend that is paying dividends to children. According to the American Institute for Boys and Men (AIMB), leave-taking among fathers has roughly tripled since 2019, signifying acceleration of a long running trend. Before 1994, more than 77% of new fathers took no leave at all; between 2014 and 2024, that number fell to about 34.6%.

However, paternity leave is still limited. Despite the positive trend in paternity leave-taking, fathers have not come close to parity with mothers, and the leave they do take tends to be short. Half of fathers who take any leave take only two weeks or less. What’s more, leave-taking is still stigmatized for men. 

As research shows, the time spent between a father and a newborn is a positive predictor of a flourishing family life.

That stigma is critical to push back on, if America is to build a pro-family culture once more. As research shows, the time spent between a father and a newborn is a positive predictor of a flourishing family life. Longer periods of paternity leave have been linked to a higher sense of competency for new dads, a view that fatherhood is rewarding, and a regard for their involvement as critical for child development. These kinds of attitudes about fathering are foundational to Vance’s dreamed of “eagerness” for young men to take on the role. 

More than that, one study found that paternity leave may increase family stability by protecting marriages during the early childhood years. The 2020 study of 6,000 families found couples were 25% less likely to have ended their marriage within six years of the birth of a new child if fathers took parental leave. The same study also demonstrated that very little leave is required to reap these rewards in the parental relationship. Only one to two weeks of leave provided the full 25% benefit to the couples in the sample. 

Most importantly, paternity leave can give dads more time to bond with their babies. Recent research demonstrates that early bonding with fathers has an incredibly long tail of benefits: infants who had a warm, engaged dynamic with their fathers grew to have better physical health indicators at age seven. 

The positive effects of paternity leave for families are clear. But for too many American fathers, particularly those of lower socioeconomic status, access to paid parental leave remains exceptionally limited. Only a minority of states have paid leave mandates, and about 70% of private sector workers are still not afforded paid parental leave as a benefit.

In this historic moment, Vice President Vance has an opportunity to change that and drive forward his vision of flourishing family life. As a vocal proponent for the pronatalist movement, he has significant influence in the conversation and governance around family issues. Though he might not be able to take formal paternity leave himself, he should advocate for policies that expand paid parental leave so more fathers and their families can reap the benefits. 

Katherine Brown Kelly is a mother and senior brand manager, based in northern New Jersey. She writes about the intersection of professional life and motherhood.

Editor's Note: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views, policies, or positions of the Institute for Family Studies.

Photo credit: Shutterstock