In June, the Women and Equalities Committee (WEC) concluded the UK had ‘one of the worst leave offers in the developed world for fathers and other parents’, in its report, Equality at work: paternity and shared parental leave. It found the maximum two weeks’ paternity leave ‘outdated’ and ‘out of step’ with most families, and branded the lack of provision for self-employed fathers ‘deeply unfair’.
The government responded to the report this week, acknowledging the need for improvement. It highlighted the Employment Rights Bill will make paternity and unpaid parental leave ‘day one’ rights from next April, and that the government launched an 18-month review of parental leave in July. It confirmed it will decide on a course of action once the review has concluded.
WEC chair, Sarah Owen MP said: ‘It is disappointing there is no definite commitment in the Government’s response to longer, better paid paternity leave during this Parliament, as change is much needed and long overdue.
‘As our report showed, an increasing number of larger businesses are implementing gender equal parental leave, and some who have been doing this for years are convinced of the business benefits, through employee engagement, retention, and lower recruitment costs.
‘The forthcoming review must address the fundamental failings in the existing system, improve gender equality, tackle the motherhood penalty, and act on the strong evidence of the economic and societal benefits in the medium and longer term of government investment.’
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