UK’s Paternity Leave Changes: Why It ‘Doesn’t Go Far Enough’

Dads-to-be now have the right to paternity leave from the first day in a new job, rather than having to wait six months to be eligible.

The change means that from 6 April, new dads can take two weeks of paternity leave from day one of a new job – however, this will not be paid leave unless they’ve worked for their employer for more than 26 weeks.

Dads can receive £194 per week or 90% of pay (whichever is lower).

But campaigners are saying the change “doesn’t go far enough” to improve the UK’s measly paternity leave offering, which has been slammed as the worst in Europe.

MATRI Coaching polled 1,000 working parents and found 42% do not believe the current paternity leave rules “go far enough” – an additional 27% believe they are “not fit for purpose”.

Ultimately, many parents want to see dads’ leave extended from the current offering of two weeks, to six weeks, as default.

Elliott Rae, founder of Parenting Out Loud and Equal Parenting Week, said the latest changes to paternity leave are “much needed”, but dads “should have been entitled” to it already.

“Paternity leave in the UK is dire and fixing something that should never have been an issue in the first place doesn’t go far enough,” he said.

“We need to start changing the way we think about families and valuing the roles of dads and partners more. Dads want to step up, and it’s high time we let them.”

Prior to the new changes, some dads were forced to take annual leave rather than paternity leave because their partners became pregnant shortly after they started a new role.

Oliver, from Gloucester, was one of them. He began a new role while his wife was pregnant. “Paternity leave entitlement should always have been in place from day one, regardless of whether you’ve switched roles,” he said.

“During the early days of parenting, having annual leave to use for illness or child care is vital, so using up a big chunk of your entitlement, or not being able to take time off at all, isn’t fair.

“We now need to use this momentum to drive forward more change and more rights for dads. We need to stop policy getting in the way of parenting.”

Hundreds of dads and partners plan to join a ‘Push for Paternity’ pram march on Saturday 2 May, in London, Leeds and Manchester, calling for a fairer paternity leave system.

Joeli Brearley, founder of Growth Spurt, added: “We should be embarrassed by how far behind the rest of Europe we are on parental support. We offer the worst paternity leave in Europe, one of the weakest maternity pay systems, virtually no meaningful support for parents of children with SEND, and a childcare system that quietly forces parents out of work and back to the kitchen sink.

“These changes are a step in the right direction. But let’s be honest, we are still at the foothills of a very steep climb if we want to properly support working families.”