Almost half of men don't take paternity leave
Categories: Money & work, Latest news
New research reveals that almost half of men are not taking the two weeks paternity leave they have a legal right to. The main reason they give for not taking the leave is that they simply can't afford to.The study of 4,500 parents in Britain shows that 2 out of 5 men fear that asking for flexible working arrangements will have a negative effect on their career prospects. The study, carried out by the Equalities and Human Rights Commission, revealed that new dads are actually working longer hours in order to provide for their family, and are therefore struggling to maintain a healthy work/life balance.
The study goes on to identify that 2 out of 5 men would prefer to spend more time with their kids, but are unable to at the current time. Consequently, when looking for a new job the availability of flexible hours is a big factor.
The current rate of statutory paternity leave is £123 a week, although there are calls to raise this to 90% of the father's weekly salary. There have also been suggestions for paternity leave to be increased to 4 months, which can be shared between the mother and the father and which will be paid at 90% for the first 8 weeks.
There is evidence that adopting flexible working patterns have led to some companies reporting higher productivity, a decrease in staff turnover, and therefore improved customer feedback and training costs. Surely adopting a more flexible approach will be beneficial not only to families but to the economy as a whole too?
What do you think about paternity leave? Did you or your partner take the full two weeks? Would you have liked more leave?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Jenny Cornish 10-20-2009 @ 7:14AM
The surprising thing about this study is that anyone can afford to take paternity leave. It's ridiculous to expect fathers to take home £123 a week at a time when the mother's pay is also being slashed. My husband was lucky in that he managed to take a week's holiday and a week's lieu time just after the birth but there was no way we could have afforded for him to be on £123 a week for two weeks. Paternity leave is a bad joke in its current form.
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BarryJesus 10-20-2009 @ 7:12AM
I took two weeks as holiday, because I just couldn't afford the statutory paternity leave.
It would have left our household about £1,000 worse off for the month. Put simply, we wouldn't have been able to afford our bills.
At a time when the mother needs as much support as possible, and when the finances of a household are likely to be under more strain as the mother may have stopped work, to give such a paltry sum hardly encourages dads to take paternity leave.
It's a no-brainer, if you offer the 90%, most dads would take the time to give the proper support.
And two weeks just isn't enough.
It is a clear example of an unfriendly family policy. Fathers should be encouraged to get involved in raising their chidren, not actively discouraged by useless policies like this.
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Neil 11-10-2009 @ 12:26PM
Well the view from the small employers side is that 2 weeks is more than enough and I would agree. The problem is nowadays is that nobody seems prepared to want to work hard to support their familiy, just look for every option to take time off and expect the state or their employer to cough up.
In my opinion 2 days is more than adequate so make the most of the already lenient policy or use your holiday!
Lee 10-22-2009 @ 6:40AM
I think there's definitely a stigma attached to men taking paternity leave, too. A lot of the ones I know have been expected to continue working from home and have been made to feel that taking leave is not just inconvenient, its also displaying a lack of dedication to their careers.
My husband and I are both freelance and so when I'm on "maternity leave", he'll be trying to take care of my business, continue his own work and spend time with the baby. Despite this, it still feels like we're luckier than most because we'll both be working from home and able to share childcare in the long term. That's a lot more than most people can manage.
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