Source · Select Committees · Women and Equalities Committee
Recommendation 7
7
Acknowledged
Increase paid statutory paternity leave to six weeks and assess making a portion compulsory
Recommendation
The Government’s review must consider a feasible plan to incrementally increase the period of paid paternity leave, drawing on lessons from recent reform programmes overseas, for example in Spain. As an initial medium- term objective, it should set out a pathway to increasing paid statutory paternity leave to six weeks over the course of this Parliament. It should aim to ensure maximum flexibility in the number of blocks the leave can be taken in during the first year after a baby’s birth or adoption. The Government must also assess the likely benefits of making a portion of the extended period of paternity leave compulsory, to drive culture change and normalise fathers taking a greater role in caring responsibilities. (Recommendation, Paragraph 66)
Government response summary AI-generated
The government acknowledges the importance of fathers' roles and will engage stakeholders through the parental leave and pay review. It highlights initial steps requiring employers to publish action plans that *may* promote parental leave policies, but does not commit to increasing paid paternity leave to six weeks or making it compulsory.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government · verbatim extract
Acknowledged
The government recognises that more can be done to support working families and facilitate the best start in life for babies and young children. We know that the system needs to reflect the required flexibility for the realities of modern work and childcare needs, which is why through the Employment Rights Bill we are enabling Paternity Leave to be taken after Shared Parental Leave. The flexibility this gives rise to will enable employees to move towards better paid employment without fear of losing their right to protected time away to be with their families. We have also launched the parental leave and pay review to ensure parental leave and pay best supports working families, and this will include looking at Paternity Leave and Pay. The government recognises the committee’s recommendation to increase the length of paid Paternity Leave; however, it is important that these kinds of proposals are considered through the parental leave review so that we are able to look at the system as a whole. The review will look at how we can promote economic growth through the parental leave system by enabling more parents to stay in work and advance their careers after starting a family, with a particular focus on improving both women’s labour market outcomes, tacking gender pay gap, and supporting parents’ ability to make balanced childcare choices that work for their family. By allowing the review to conclude and inform our approach on Paternity Leave we will be able to look at the system overall to ensure it best delivers for working families.
Read the full response on Parliament ↗