When shared parental leave was introduced in the UK in 2015, the coalition government described it as a “radical” policy that would change the lives of new parents. By sharing up to 50 weeks of leave and up to 37 weeks of salary, it is touted as a way to close the gender pay gap and give dads the chance to connect with their babies.
However, it has been difficult to view shared parental leave as a failure for a decade. The 2024 study by University of Bath researchers used data from 40,000 households in the UK and found that the program did not affect the number of fathers on leave or the time they chose to take leave.
In 2023, the government’s assessment of shared parental leave found that only 1% of eligible mothers and 5% of fathers accepted this. Meanwhile, the pay gap between mother and father has increased by 93 pence per hour since 2020.
“The problem with parental leave is that it actually provides the opportunity for partners to get maternity leave for mothers, which means mothers need to reduce their partner’s break so they have more time,” explains Rachel Grocott, chief executive of pregnancy.
In fact, there is no personal right, only the mother handed over the existing maternity leave right to another parent. The effect is to consolidate the gender pay gap rather than correct.
Read more: How to stay motivated during a long work
However, other flexible parental leave programs in the world have achieved even greater success. For example, in 2022, Finland reformed its parental leave system to give parents the same vacation. Now every parent receives a 160-day paid day before their child reaches 2 years of age. As a result, the parent-child relationship has almost doubled.
“Other programs allow both parents to take leave as two parents – a real recognition of the value parents play in a healthy society,” Grocott said. “In the UK, daddy is on vacation for two weeks, which is pale compared to other countries. The fact is that other countries have proved the value of a good shared vacation and we are still procrastinating.”
In the UK, dads received only two weeks of paid paternity tests, which pale compared to other countries. ·A half-point image through Getty image
Another key issue is that shared parental leave is very complex. The program’s eligibility is based on both parents’ employment status and income. Only employees who have been employed by the same employer for at least 26 weeks can enjoy shared parental leave.
Both parents must meet strict standards related to employment status, income and service hours. They must also coordinate unused maternity leave, provide specific notices and submit formal statements.
Read more: Is mental health first aid effective?
“It’s ridiculously complicated,” said George Gabriel, daddy shift co-founder. “Most people in the UK work for small and medium-sized businesses (small and medium-sized businesses), and it is totally unrealistic to expect the bar or gardening business to have the HR capacity required for shared parental leave.”
And, while agent staff and workers on zero-hour contracts are entitled to common parental compensation, parents who self-employed or work in the gig economy are not eligible.
The British parental leave system is one of the least generous systems of all developed countries. ·Petrunjela by Getty Images
The rate of shared parental leave is usually placed on the shoulders of men and is not interested at all, but that is not the case. For the vast majority of men, sharing parental leave is simply not a financially viable option. Maternity, paternity test and adoption salary is 43% lower than national living wages – making the UK’s parental leave system one of the most generous of all developed countries.
“The UK’s legal paternity test is so bad that many families will never offer real options for how they share parenting,” Gabriel said. “In most families, men earn more on average than their partner’s average income, so when they enjoy shared parenting leave, they’re more expensive to take leave at a expensive statutory rate of pay.”
So, what makes flexible parental leave policies successful? First, it must provide adequate salary and include all types of parents regardless of their working conditions. The rights that individuals deserve are equally important – empowering fathers and secondary caregivers to their own payroll rights. When this leave is non-transferable, every parent has a clear motivation to use it, which leads to higher absorption, especially in fathers.
The countries with the highest rates of male parental leave shared financial support and fenced parental leave policies. According to a EU study, fathers were offered non-transferable holidays in Sweden and Iceland, and men absorbed much more (about 90%) than Denmark (24%), which did not provide it.
Read more: Why being under pressure from liking at work is to stop women from retreating
“Maternity Action calls for six months of maternity leave and flexible taking away six months of parental leave within 18 months of birth.
“We recognize that the government may not be able to deliver all of this immediately, but we want to see a plan to improve parental leave and salary.”
Read more:
Download the Yahoo Finance app, available for apple and Android.
