Paternity leave changes unlikely to increase take-up dramatically

Written by PayPerShop.com - Filed under: Press Releases on September 20th, 2009

Responding to today’s announcements relating to maternity and paternity leave, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD):

Welcomes the decision, in the current financial climate, to drop plans to extend paid maternity leave from 9 months to a year.
Draws attention to the administrative burden involved in sharing parental leave between parents, which will discourage employers from promoting take-up and risk some parents not getting the leave they are entitled to.
Notes that CIPD research shows that paternity leave paid at the statutory level is unattractive to fathers for financial reasons, and that the majority wouldn’t take the existing two week entitlement paid at that level.

Mike Emmott, Employee Relations Adviser at the CIPD, says:

“We share the widely expressed concerns about the principle of allowing parents to convert maternity leave unused by mothers into paternity leave for fathers – we have always maintained the administrative burdens involved could cause a real headache for employers.

“Our research shows that “paid paternity leave”, restricted as it is to a statutory £123.06 per week, is not attractive to the vast majority of fathers. We found that less than half of fathers would take even the existing two weeks paternity leave at statutory pay levels, many preferring to take paid leave instead. So the proposed increase in ‘paid’ paternity leave is unlikely to lead to any dramatic increase in take-up.

“However, we are pleased that the Government is evidently intending to move towards a more equitable sharing of the burden of child support between mothers and fathers in the early months after a baby is born. Any realistic plan to achieve this is bound to be expensive and could only be implemented over many years. However, without some further steps in this direction, the stated aim of all the main parties to close the gender pay gap will be hobbled in one important regard. This is a cultural issue that government cannot tackle alone. But there is a role for government, working closely with employers, to nudge cultural norms in the right direction.”

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