Men at work now jealous of maternity leave?

[Sneha]

So I'm planning to start my maternity leave from August for a whole year. Weirdly, I've seen a lot of men getting jealous when women take maternity leave. Some examples from my office:

My manager, who has three daughters, said, "How lucky you are to get a break, men don't have that option."

A colleague expecting his second child joked, "You'll get a salary for a year without working, sooo lucky." I realised his wife doesn't work, so he probably wants her to get the salary and insurance benefits too.

Another male coworker said, "Only in India and Europe do you get six months to a year off; in the USA they barely give three months paid leave." He added that he respects American women because they return to work quickly.

Seriously, men need to stop comparing everything. If you think our lives are better, maybe pray to be born a woman in the next life.

[Anil]

Ugh, ask them to come to work when they have a fever. Maut aa jaati inki.

[Pankaj]

I know men who have taken paternity leave, and they're upfront about how much effort it takes to keep a baby alive and healthy.

Those who feel jealous about maternity leave are either unaware of the challenges or are privileged enough not to be involved in parenting.

Focusing only on the paid‑leave aspect is a typical low‑IQ response from a man who can't see that short‑term pay is just one piece of a woman's career and earning path. Working women also pay income and indirect taxes, so society isn't just endlessly funding them.

In the US, shorter maternity leave means higher childcare costs, which both fathers and mothers have to bear if they want quality care for infants.

[Mayank]

They should have babies then.

[Jagdish]

I would have loved to brag about my maternity leave to make them even more jealous.

Seriously, what kind of people have stopped using their brains? A woman gets maternity leave because she's pregnant, not as a free vacation. I guess these are the folks who expect their wives to work full‑time even while pregnant.

[Saritha]

"How lucky you are to be able to take a break"

As if it's a paid vacation in Bali, not putting your career on hold to raise a child with even more responsibilities.

[Imtiaz]

And yet none of them actually followed through - 'I wish I could take paternity leave and look after my wife.' This shows they think maternity leave is just a holiday with pay.

A woman is about to give birth - her body goes through a traumatic process, she loses a lot of blood, and her mental health takes a hit. Then she has to watch over a newborn 24/7 for up to two years, not to mention caring for herself, dealing with a useless husband, and handling relatives who keep popping in to comment on her health.

That's how out of touch some men are, treating this as a fucking holiday? If they want it that badly, give them paternity leave and let them care for the baby after an abdominal surgery or an appendectomy.

Fucking dimwits.

[Radhika]

So true!! When I was about to start my maternity leave, a male colleague showed jealousy EVERY DAY! He even asked if my husband could do him a favour too! I was speechless. He's younger and pretty immature, always making foot‑in‑mouth comments. If it weren't for his established 'crack' mentality and my low energy, I would have filed a POSH case before leaving.

Mind you, my job was really hectic and he knew how much work I put in daily. We were in the same team with equal load. I never got any slack just because I was pregnant. I barely got WFH either. I worked till the eighth month and my leave was for 26 weeks. His jealousy made me sad. It was unbelievably insensitive. They think maternity leave is like a vacation. Corporates should start sessions for such clueless men.

[Devansh]

Too bad these grown‑up kids don't even understand what their own mothers went through to bring them into this world and raise them. Calling maternity leave a 'vacation' shows pure ignorance.

[Norman]

They actually think having a baby is a "break".

Just shows how uninvolved they are as fathers. I'm pretty sure these idiots haven't changed even one diaper and just hand the baby back to the women in the family if it cries.

[Riya]

I just wish men could have periods and give birth. Then they could get maternity leave!!