50% of Parents Unhappy With Paternity Leave

The latest data shows that half of parents in the UK are unhappy with the paternity leave offered.

This comes as no surprise to us, as so many of you in our community have shared your experiences of battling to ensure that your child's father can even have a day off to attend the birth, never mind an actual period of leave.

And of those of you who are able to get paternity leave organised, a huge number of you report struggling financially as the current rate of statutory paternity pay is a paltry £156.66 or 90% of dad's weekly average earnings - how on earth do they even calculate these things?! This means that so many new dads feel under pressure to go back into the workplace, missing out on precious bonding time, and time spent helping their partner - this is particularly difficult if they've had a difficult birth.

We've been sent some seriously interesting information about a study commissioned by childcare service Koru Kids... it's well worth a read!

New league table ranks UK companies' paternity packages revealing half of parents not happy with leave offered...

A new ‘Paternity League’ table reorders the top 50 ‘Best Places to Work’ list based on their paternity leave offering.

It comes as research reveals almost half of parents (46%) who have children aged five or under have been dissatisfied with their paternity packages
Over half of parents said their paternity package negatively affected their mental health, whilst 62% of mums say their partners struggled to bond with their newborn due to having little time off
The league table has been created by childcare service Koru Kids to shine a light on parental inequalities and to call for organisational change

A new ‘Paternity League’ Table has been released today by childcare service Koru Kids, shining a spotlight on the most and least generous paternity leave packages that the UK companies on Glassdoor’s ‘Top 50 Best Places To Work 2022’ offer.

It serves to highlight how workplaces need to step up their game and help level the playing field when it comes to parental leave and family-friendly workplace policies.

FIND THE LEAGUE TABLE HERE

This comes as research commissioned by Koru Kids reveals almost half (46%) of parents with young children were dissatisfied with their/their partner’s paternity leave package. The top reasons include not being given enough time off (73%), being displeased with their pay (59%) and a lack of flexibility upon returning to work (28%).

A staggering 76% of fathers and non-birthing parents were offered just two weeks' leave by their employer - the current minimum statutory requirement in the UK - which is scant when compared to the 52 week entitlement rightly given for maternity leave.

And, according to the findings, inadequate paternity leave has a knock-on effect on all aspects of family life. Over half of parents revealed it negatively impacted their mental health (56%), while a quarter (24%) say their physical health suffered as a result. A third of dads/non-birthing partners (34%) also said that their relationship suffered, whilst a further third (32%) said they were left feeling financially unstable.

What’s more, there is also a huge knock-on effect on mothers and primary caregivers. Worryingly, 73% of mothers surveyed say they felt abandoned during such a vulnerable time, whilst more than two-thirds (67%) had to take on the majority of household chores and childcare duties alone.

In fact, 80% of parents believe that the unequal maternity/paternity leave policies in the UK reinforce traditional gender stereotypes, where the mother adopts a homemaking role while the father returns to work.

Perhaps most concerning is the impact that it can have on the child. Three in five (62%) mums surveyed say they felt their partner struggled to create a bond with their new baby due to a lack of time off, and over half (52%) of parents said their child didn’t receive enough attention during those crucial first months.

Koru Kids has partnered with think-tank The Fatherhood Institute, to encourage more open discussions around paternity leave in and outside of the workplace and combat gender inequality as a result of having a child, as a third (35%) of parents surveyed felt employers didn’t do enough to positively support them or their partner through paternity leave.

Rachel Carrell, founder and CEO of Koru Kids, comments: “Gender inequality starts at day 1, thanks to poor paternity leave packages, and our research confirms that paternity leave is severely underfunded and overlooked. With 60% of dads saying good paternity leave would be a factor when finding a new role, every employer should check their paternity package and make sure it truly provides financial stability, flexibility and enough time for new parents to bond with their baby. Our Paternity League table shows some companies have outstanding and inspirational policies, but disappointingly, others that are renowned for being great places to work actually have paternity packages that leave much to be desired, while several in the top 50 declined to share details of their package at all. It’s time we broke down the barriers to accessing parental leave, so that men, women and children can flourish.”

Adrienne Burgess, joint CEO and Head of Research for The Fatherhood Institute, adds, “We’ve been calling for a father-inclusive parenting leave system for years, but it’s still startling just how little progress has been made to change the status quo in the UK. Together with Koru Kids, we’re campaigning for fathers and non-birthing partners to be given six weeks minimum paid leave in the first year after the birth of a child, and for workplaces to be transparent when it comes to the package they offer.”

To build a broader picture of the state of paternity leave in the UK, Koru Kids has created a tool that allows people to input their employer’s paternity policy and see how it matches up against the paternity packages of the Glassdoor ‘Top 50 Best Places To Work’. To see how your company measures up, visit Koru Kids here.

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Our verdict...

We were completely unsurprised that so many parents are deeply unhappy with the paternity leave offered to fathers; not only is it far too short, it's also an unsustainable amount of money for many families, leaving many vulnerable new parents having to choose between bonding and support time, and going back to work shortly after the baby is born, just to financially survive. Businesses certainly should do better by the dads in their workplaces, but we also think that the onus should really be on the UK government and their paltry rate of statutory paternity pay too, as well as the eligibility criteria which often causes issues for men who started a new job too late to qualify (26 weeks of continuous employment by the same employer).

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