Paternity leave ruins careers??

This article in Management Issues yesterday left me both bemused and rather angry.

The headline "Asking for Paternity Leave is Career Death" is inflammatory, misleading and downright inaccurate, as evidenced by the content of the same article –
"One father in ten said he felt his career would suffer if he took time off work to spend with his newborn child"
One in ten! Hardly warrants the headline does it?

What has happened to respectable journalism? Is Management Issues descending to the level of the sensationalist tabloid press?

Finance company ING Direct, who conducted the study, are quoted as saying that "Just one father in three took their full paternity entitlement". I suspect that this may have something to do with the company they work for, but in the case of this organisation, I have recently played substitute manager when not one but two of my colleagues took their full two weeks paid paternity leave, and in one case, took some additional annual holiday entitlement as well. I see no evidence whatsoever that they have been disadvantaged in any way.

People, don't pay any attention to the results of surveys - they are crap!