Shared Parental Leave is Failing to Deliver for Dads | Blog | Mix Diversity

The UK has the least generous paternity leave entitlement in Europe. Currently, the statutory entitlement to paternity leave is two weeks and the weekly rate for paternity pay is £172 a week, which is 44% of the national living wage. Shockingly, new survey data reveals that for 1 in 5 (20%) dads, no parental leave options were available to them fol... See more

In response to the notion that Dads and partners are able to access the Shared Parental Leave scheme should they wish to spend longer with their new children Joeli adds, “Shared Parental Leave has failed on almost every measure set by the Government. In addition, the scheme is fundamentally flawed. It is not shared parental leave at all, it is shar... See more

“Taking leave is not normative,” says Richard Petts, a sociologist who specializes in research on parental leave, when explaining the paternity leave statistics that show how few men actually take more than a week of paid leave. He saw why first-hand when he struggled to get time off after the birth of his own child and cobbled together some sick d... See more

It depends heavily on the organization, and organizational support. And there’s a lot to do with perceptions of penalties. Fathers perceive that they’re going to be penalized in some way, shape, or form for taking leave. Workplace barriers to taking leave, and especially extended periods of leave, are still a real concern and still present a proble... See more