Source · Select Committees · Women and Equalities Committee
Recommendation 5
5
Deferred
UK paternity leave is inadequate, entrenching gender stereotypes and harming families
Conclusion
Since introducing up to two weeks of paid statutory paternity leave over 20 years ago, the UK has fallen far behind many comparable countries. We now have one of the worst leave offers in the developed world for fathers and other parents. A maximum of two weeks paternity leave is completely out of step with how most couples want to share their parenting responsibilities and balance these with working life. Our system entrenches outdated gender stereotypes about caring and harms fathers, mothers and families. The system requires substantial change. (Conclusion, Paragraph 64)
Government response summary AI-generated
The government acknowledges the need for change in parental leave and states it will enable Paternity Leave to be taken after Shared Parental Leave. However, it defers the consideration of increasing the length of paid Paternity Leave to the ongoing parental leave and pay review.
Government Response
The government responded to this report on 19 September 2025. No passage in that response could be matched to this conclusion. Read the response document ↗