I can vividly remember being turned out of the maternity ward on my son's first night when visiting time ended at the hospital, and ignored a few days later when the health visitor arrived to check up on mother and baby.
Yet if the Government really wants public servants to embrace fathers, it will have to address one of the fundamental causes of fathers' lack of engagement in their children's lives: the gross inequity in parental leave entitlements.
Fathers are entitled to only two weeks statutory paternity leave, paid at Income Support levels (£123 per week). In contrast, mothers are entitled to one year's maternity leave, with at least the first six weeks paid at 90% of earnings. This inequality locks mums and dads into traditional carer and breadwinner roles in the critical first year of a baby's life, setting the standard from which public services too often take their cue.
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