Pete Buttigieg endorses parental leave: “Personally, it was very important”

Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg joined Yahoo News’ “Skullduggery” podcast to discuss his unprecedented decision as a male Cabinet member to take four weeks of paid parental leave after adopting infant twins last fall. “I do think leave should be available and, when it is available to people, you ought to take it,” says Buttigieg, “and that’s true for men as well as women.”

Video Transcript

DANIEL KLAIDMAN: You and your husband, Chasten, adopted twins in August. Mazel tov, first of all. PETE BUTTIGIEG: Thank you. DANIEL KLAIDMAN: And you did something unusual, maybe unprecedented for a male cabinet secretary. You took a month-long paternity leave. Obviously, you did this for your family, but it also sparked a conversation in this country, you know, about family leave. And I think, as you know, I think the only industrialized country in the world that doesn't have sort of federal paid paternity leave. There's a provision in the Build Back Better plan, the Biden administration, that would provide for that. It's been steadfastly opposed by Senator Manchin of West Virginia. I'm just wondering, what are you doing to try to get this enacted? And have you spoken to Senator Manchin, tried to persuade him to change his mind, given him the benefit of what you've learned going through this experience yourself? PETE BUTTIGIEG: So bottom line is we ought to have paid leave and this country. As you correctly pointed out, it's something that people in pretty much every other country, and not just the wealthy countries, can count on. And it's something that most Americans believe is the right thing to do. I don't know how or when we'll get there legislatively, but I believe we'll get there, and we're going to continue pushing for it. Personally, it was extremely important to us. You know, I knew that-- by the way, federal employees, career employees get 12 weeks now. And that was one of the very few things to happen under the last administration that I strongly agree with. And I think it happened because, again, there is a bipartisan sense of agreement, at least among the American people, that it's appropriate. Because of the nature of the job, I obviously couldn't take 12 weeks away, but I do think that leave should be available, and when it is available to people, that you ought to take it. And that's true for men, as well as women. And I'll also tell you, while of course I was taking care of business, anything that couldn't wait, anything that needed my attention throughout, that leave was probably the hardest I've ever worked. And I'm very accustomed to very hard work, whether it's running for president or on military deployment or being mayor. I've never been a stranger to 80-hour workweeks. But this is the first job I've had where-- being a dad, that is-- where, for a while, work began at 3:00 in the morning. And it just went from there. DANIEL KLAIDMAN: That'll end eventually, but it might take a long time. PETE BUTTIGIEG: It's already much better. I got woken up at 3:00 in the morning last night, but I got to go right back to bed by 3:30, and it felt like a victory. DANIEL KLAIDMAN: Yeah, good. And Senator Manchin, have you spoken to him about this? Do you plan to? PETE BUTTIGIEG: I'm not going to publicize conversations that I'm having with members, but obviously anybody who wants to know about my personal experiences and what it means for how I come at these policies, I'm always eager to tell them.