Who will be left holding the baby?

Who will be left holding the baby?


The issue of the uptake of family-related leave is one which is often subject to much scrutiny. In recent years, the focus has shifted onto men, and how much paternity or parental leave they take from work, which in many countries, including the UK, remains far lower and shorter than women’s uptake of maternity leave.

From 5 April 2015, a new system of shared parental leave will be introduced for eligible employees and agency workers, which will effectively allow parents to share the statutory maternity leave and pay that is currently available only to mothers (and primary adopters in cases of adoption). This means that qualifying parents will be able to share between them up to 50 weeks of leave and 37 weeks of statutory shared paternity pay, and can take the leave at the same time as each other or separately. Will this new system make any difference to fathers taking paternity and parental leave?

The current leave entitlements for fathers

For over a decade, fathers have been entitled to take either one whole week or two consecutive weeks’ ordinary paternity leave within 56 days of a child’s birth or adoption. For fathers of babies born since April 2011, fathers have also been entitled to additional paternity leave of two to 26 weeks, which is dependent on their partner having returned to work from their statutory maternity or adoption leave. This additional paternity leave entitlement will be abolished when shared parental leave comes in next year. In addition, like mothers, eligible fathers may take a total of up to 18 weeks’ unpaid parental leave per child before the child’s fifth birthday (18th birthday for children entitled to disability living allowance). This is a separate entitlement to shared parental leave, so will continue after shared parental leave comes in next year.

So what has been the uptake of ordinary paternity leave and additional paternity leave in the UK?

Recent research by the Institute of Leadership & Management (ILM) found that a quarter of new fathers took no paternity leave at all, and fewer than one in ten took more than their two weeks ordinary paternity leave. The research found that cultural barriers are impeding the uptake of both ordinary and additional paternity leave, as a cultural expectation remains within organisations that women rather than men will be the ones taking extended periods away from the workplace. The report also said low levels of paternity pay discouraged new fathers, with just 9% surveyed receiving more than two weeks on full pay.

In terms of parental leave, uptake by both mothers and fathers is thought to be low, primarily because it is unpaid – in a 2012 survey, only 11% of parents with a child under the age of 6 reported taking parental leave.

How do other countries treat fathers?

It will come as no surprise to hear that paternity leave entitlements vary greatly across different countries, as set out in the International Labour Office’s recent report entitled “Maternity and paternity at work – Law and practice across the world”. Where countries do have paternity leave entitlements, they range from one day in Tunisia to 90 days in Iceland, Slovenia and Finland. 88 countries covered by the report provide no statutory paternity leave at all. Only five countries, all Developed Economies, provide for more than two weeks paternity leave, and only three countries (Italy (on an experimental basis), Chile, and Portugal) have any compulsory paternity leave.

In terms of paternity leave pay, most countries pay some form of paternity pay, although more countries make the employer pay for this rather than using a social security system to do so. In a number of countries, paternity leave and/or pay is “enhanced” through collective bargaining agreements. Interestingly, in Denmark this has been supported by a system of leave reimbursement funds to pool the costs of leave pay for companies.

Like the UK, many countries also have separate parental leave entitlements, and insufficient parental leave pay is the reason most commonly cited by fathers in EU countries for not taking parental leave.

Iceland seems to be one of the most successful countries in terms of getting men to take paternity or parental leave. In Iceland, fathers are entitled to three months’ paternity/parental leave paid at 80% of their usual earnings. This resulted, in 2009, in 96 fathers taking leave for every 100 mothers taking leave, using an average of 99 days’ leave compared to 178 days’ leave for women. Of course, although the design of policy (for example the level of pay and entitlement and ease of use) affects uptake, different countries may also have differing cultural climates which also affect uptake, with different attitudes towards men taking a more active childcare role.

So what can be done to increase fathers’ uptake of paternity and parental leave?

Evidence of how other countries have approached paternity and parental leave vis-à-vis fathers gives a few ideas on how to increase the number of fathers taking up paternity and parental leave:

  • Introduce some form of “bonus”, such as additional leave or tax breaks for fathers who take paternity leave in order to boost take-up rates.
  • Bring in a period of compulsory leave, like the two weeks’ compulsory maternity leave mothers in the UK have to take immediately post-birth. Many oppose this as being too paternalistic.
  • Give fathers individual rights to parental leave, which can’t be transferred to the other parent, so that fathers who don’t use their quota lose it. Evidence suggests in other countries that when parental leave is shared, fathers’ take-up is low - this runs directly contrary to the UK shifting to a system of shared parental leave.

However, unsurprisingly, the key factor relating to uptake of leave by fathers is the level of pay they receive whilst on leave and the availability of job protection.

Comment

Whilst great strides have been made in women continuing in the workplace after having a child, with improvements in leave entitlements and pay during that leave, the recognition of men’s rights to parenthood and to share unpaid care responsibilities with women will help to break down traditional social attitudes, which should improve gender equality in and out of the workplace. Currently in the UK, many men feel unable to take their leave entitlements whilst there is a lack of uptake by other men and employers do not more actively support men exercising their rights. If more men feel able to take leave, childcare will become less associated with gender, and therefore level out the playing field at work even more, facilitating access to a broader talent pool and instilling greater employee loyalty amongst fathers. However, it is difficult to see the new system of shared parental leave making any great difference unless employers start to offer men better pay whilst on such leave. Whilst many employers still draft their shared parental leave policies, it remains unclear whether any will try to mirror the enhanced maternity pay they offer female employees over to employees taking shared parental leave, and whether they will offer a reduced enhancement in order to take account of potential enhancements their employee’s partner may receive from their employer. Whilst many employers may consider this to be unnecessarily generous and a significant extra cost when offered alongside enhanced maternity pay, presumably many employers felt similarly 30 to 40 years ago about offering enhanced maternity pay? Clearly attitudes have significantly changed about paying mothers whilst off on maternity leave, so hopefully we will be looking back on an equally significant change in 30 years time.