Speaking at the annual conference of the Trades Union Congress last week, Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced that, from April 2011, fathers will have the right to take up to three months' paid paternity leave during the second six months of a child's life, providing that the child's mother has gone back to work, and a further three months of unpaid leave.
The idea of introducing a period of transferable parental leave was put forward by the Equality and Human Rights Commission in April (News, 1 April).
Mr Brown added that the Labour Party 'retains its ambition' to extend paid maternity leave from nine months to one year, but gave no indication of a timeframe.
The Prime Minister's announcement generated a mixed response from family campaigners.
Rob Williams, chief executive of the Fatherhood Institute, said, 'We want to see more fathers taking leave, but this is not the way to do it. It is a step in the right direction, but we are concerned that take-up among fathers will be low. There is no real incentive package and what is being offered will either be unpaid or paid at a very low rate, so few families will be able to afford to take it up. In Norway, fathers are entitled to three months' leave, which is paid at close to their normal salary. This leave is only for fathers and cannot be transferred, which acknowledges that fathers are useful in their own right.'
Sarah Jackson, chief executive of Working Families, said, 'This news is good for families, and good for business. It opens up choices to many parents about how to look after their newborn child, and by giving fathers new rights at work, it begins to tackle gender inequality in the workplace, which costs the UK so dearly.'
- See In My View, p12