When shared parental leave was introduced in 2015 in the UK, the coalition government described it as a “radical” policy that would transform the life of new parents. By sharing up to 50 weeks of leave and up to 37 weeks pay, this was advertised as a way to reduce the difference in gender pay and allow dads to be tied to their babies.
However, it is difficult for a decade to see that shared parental leave like anything but failure. A 2024 study of researchers at the University of BAT, which used data from 40,000 households in the UK, found that the scheme did not affect the number of fathers who take the vacation – neither the length of the vacation they decided to take.
In 2023, a government assessment of shared parental leave found that only 1% of mothers eligible and 5% of fathers accept it. Meanwhile, the pay difference between mothers and fathers has grown by 93p to an hour from 2020.
“The problem with parental leave is that what it actually offers is the partners’ chance of taking a mother’s maternity leave, which means that mothers should reduce their partner so that they can have more time,” explains Rachel Grocot, CEO of the pregnant woman.
Effectively there is no individual rights, only existing maternity leave, transferred from the other parent’s mother. The effect is to strengthen, not correctly, the difference in gender pay.
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But other flexible parental leave schemes around the world were far more successful. In 2022, for example, Finland reformed its parental leave system to give parents equal amounts of leave. Now each parent receives a 160 -off -day quota to use it before the child is two. As a result, the leaves of paternity have almost doubled.
“Other schemes allow both parents to take a lot of vacation as two parents – it’s a real nod to recognize the value that parents play in a healthy society,” Grocot says. “In the UK, dads receive a gloomy two weeks of vacation, which pales compared to other countries. The thing is that other countries have proven that the value of a decent shared leave and we are still dragging behind ourselves.”
In the UK, dads receive only two weeks of paid paternity leave, which decreases compared to other countries. ·Halfpoint Images through Getty Images
Another key problem is that shared parental leave is incredibly complicated. The admissibility of the scheme is based on the work status and the profits of both parents. Only employees who have been constantly employed by the same employer for at least 26 weeks can take shared parental leave.
Both parents must meet strict criteria related to employment status, income and service duration. They also need to coordinate the transfer of unused maternity leave, give specific notifications and submit official declarations.
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“It’s ridiculously complicated,” says George Gabriel, a co -founder of Dad’s change. “Most people in the UK work for SMEs (small and medium -sized enterprises) and it is simply unrealistic to expect a pub or gardening business to have the necessary capacity of human resources to create shared parental leave.”
And although the workers and workers of the Agency for Zero Hours may be entitled to shared parental pay, parents who are self -employed or work in the concert economy do not meet the conditions.
The United Kingdom Parental Leave System is one of the few of all developed countries. ·Petrunjela via Getty Images
The poor speed of sharing parental leave is often placed on the shoulders of men who just don’t care, but this is not the case. For the bigger part of men, shared parental leave is simply not a financially viable option. Motherhood, paternity and payment of adoption may be 43% less than the national salary for life -which makes the UK’s parental leave system one of the less generous of all developed countries.
“The United Kingdom Father’s Fatherhood Leave is so bad that many families never get a real choice for how they want to share child care,” says Gabriel. “In most households, men still earn more than their partners, so when it comes to them, taking shared parental leave, it is even more expensive to rest in the uneven degree of legal pay.”
So, what does a flexible parental vacation policy successful? First, she must offer adequate pay and include all types of parents, regardless of their work status. Equally important is the individual right of admission of fathers and secondary care for their right to well paid leave. When this leave is not a transfer, every parent has a clear incentive to use it, which leads to greater absorption, especially among the fathers.
Countries with the highest percentage of parental leave among men have shared policies on parental leave, which are financially supported and surrounded by rings. In Sweden and Iceland, which offer non-discontinued leave for the father, the ingestion of men is much higher (about 90%) than it is in Denmark (24%), which does not offer it, according to an EU study.
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“Maternity actions call for the right to maternity leave of six months and an additional six months of parental leave so that each parent can be taken flexibly within 18 months after birth. In addition, the government must increase parental pay to national salary.
“We admit that the government may not be able to deliver all this at once, but we would like to see a plan to gradually eliminate the improved parental leave and payment.”
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