12 October 2012
The Government?s plan to allow mothers and fathers to share parenting leave from 2015 is a breakthrough that will benefit children, families and the recession-hit economy, the Fatherhood Institute says.
The FI first floated the idea of allowing mums and dads to share parenting leave from 2 weeks after the birth of their child in since May 2012, and has been lobbying for it ever since.
Adrienne Burgess, the FI?s joint CEO, said: ?For too long families have had little choice but to go down the traditional route of the mother staying at home. The UK has the biggest gap between maternity and paternity leave entitlements in the developed world. This change will give couples real choice about who does what, and make our economy much more competitive as a result.?
The change could be particularly useful for the growing number of families where the mother is the sole or higher earner ? but we need clarity on the detail of the proposed changes, especially over whether there will be quotas of reserved leave for fathers and mothers within the flexible parental leave entitlement. Evidence suggests that this ?use it or lose it? leave is crucial to ensuring dads take up leave. We also need to see whether only fathers whose partners were entitled to maternity leave and pay can take flexible parental leave or whether it rests on their own entitlement ? and whether unemployed fathers can claim ?paternity allowance? (equivalent to the maternity allowance currently paid to mothers who do not qualify for maternity leave and pay).
The Institute first suggested sharing leave from 2 weeks after the birth (4 weeks where mothers are factory workers) ? the Swedish system ? earlier this summer, after it became clear that a lobby of women?s groups and trade unions was pushing the Government to abandon plans floated in their MODERN WORKPLACES consultation for a more flexible system of parenting leave. ?We need to digest and also read the official announcement, when it comes, along with the small print. But this sounds like a very positive step ? and fits with the Coalition?s early commitment to support shared parenting from the earliest stages of pregnancy,? said Ms Burgess.
Read our Briefing on Maternity Leave, Parental Choice and Child Welfare.
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