Findings from a TUC survey of 2,006 parents of children under the age of six, reveal that ‘low levels’ of statutory paternity pay leave families struggling financially, stopping 1 in 5 dads from taking advantage of the one to two weeks’ leave at all.
Currently, statutory paternity pay is £172.48 a week or 90 per cent of your average weekly earnings (whichever is lower).
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Low-income households and self-employed workers who took part in the survey were most likely to say they missed out on paternity leave. Self employed workers are not eligible for statutory maternity pay.
The union body is now calling on the Government to increase statutory paternity pay and ‘overhaul’ the parental leave system.
Survey key findings
- Nearly 9 in 10 (86 per cent) of parents with a household income of over £60k take statutory paternity leave provided by their employer, but this falls to two-thirds (65 per cent) of dads/partners with a household income of under £25k.
- Only 1 in 3 (31 per cent) self-employed dads/partners took time off when their partner had a baby.
- Nearly 1 in 5 (18 per cent) of dads/partners are still doing some work while on paternity leave – rising to almost 1 in 3 (30 per cent) of part-time workers. Reasons for this include the ‘demands of their workload’ or ‘feeling pressured by their employers’.
The TUC is calling on ministers to increase statutory paternity pay to at least the level of the real living wage, extend parental leave so both parents have a stand-alone right to their own individual period of leave, rather than sharing it, and provide parental leave and pay rights to parents from day one of their employment – scrapping qualifying periods.
'The arrival of a newborn is one of the most special moments in life. No parent should miss out.'
TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak said, ‘It’s not right that so many dads can’t afford to take time off work when their babies are born.
‘The arrival of a newborn is one of the most special moments in life. No parent should miss out on these precious first days.
‘Without better rights to well-paid leave, too many new parents will still miss out on spending time with their babies. And mums will continue to take on the bulk of caring.
‘Ministers should give all dads better-paid paternity leave – and create a new right to well-paid parental leave just for dads, that doesn’t rely on mums giving up some of their maternity leave.’