The Fatherhood Institute - along with Pregnant then Screwed, Movember, Dope Black Dads, DadsNet, Working Families, Music Football Fatherhood, and Parenting Out Loud - is part of the core team behind the Dad Shift, whose work builds on our #6weeksfordads campaign. Yesterday, 16 October, the partnership handed in our open letter to Keir Starmer, calling for longer, properly paid paternity leave
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
So said Margaret Mead, the famous cultural anthropologist.
Let’s hope she’s right.
The Fatherhood Institute – a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens if ever there was one – has been calling for a better paternity offer for fathers (and co-parents) for more than two decades.
We were involved in the discussions that led to the introduction of statutory paternity leave and pay in the UK, way back in 2003.
We fed into the consultation that led to the introduction of shared parental leave in 2015 and have watched with growing frustration as the policy has, in line with our expectations, failed to deliver [1].
We responded, too, to the Conservative’s 2019 consultation on parental leave and pay – twice, in fact: once to highlight, line by line, how poorly drafted the consultation was and invite the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy to reissue it; and then again to provide evidence relating to the questions it should have asked, if those responsible for drafting it had properly understood their own parenting leave system.
When, in July 2023, the then Government finally published a response to that consultation, it was the Fatherhood Institute who organised an open letter to the then Trade and Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch – signed by more than 30 stakeholder organisations and individuals – objecting to its failure to substantially reform the UK’s paternity offer.
Later the same month, we launched our 6 weeks for dads campaign, starting with a Parliamentary petition signed by more than 14,000 UK citizens. We’ve spoken out against the Tories’ tweaks to paternity leave on the TV, radio, in the print media, and in policy webinars; have briefed key politicians and civil servants; and continue to gather, analyse and promote evidence supporting the case for substantive change.
That includes video interviews with academic experts [2]; our own data and analysis setting out how the UK’s paternity offer and spending compares to other countries’ [3]; and a recent press article highlighting that more than three-fifths (62%) of the most progressive UK employers now offer fathers at least six weeks' leave on full pay.
After many years as the lone voice calling for a better paternity deal, other organisations focused on improving support for families have started to join us in recognising the need to be more inclusive of fathers. Pregnant Then Screwed understands that better leave for fathers is key to addressing the motherhood penalty, for example, and has invested considerable time, energy and expertise into pushing for change.
It's clear that Labour has been listening – its Employment Rights Bill proposes making paternity leave a Day 1 right – although for this to really impact on families, there’ll need to be an equivalent change to paternity pay. It has also confirmed that it will review the parental leave system which, in its own words, “does not support working parents”.
In recent weeks The Dad Shift has joined the fray, bringing impressive campaigning skills into the space and doing a brilliant job of turning politicians’ heads towards the need for a better paternity deal, as the Government’s review of the parental leave system draws closer. We’ve been advising the campaign’s founders, George Gabriel and Alex Lloyd-Hunter, and will be working closely with them – as well as stepping up work on our own 6 weeks for dads campaign – in the coming weeks and months.
That work starts with producing a new briefing for a Westminster Hall debate about paternity leave next week, called by Shaun Davies MP, and further lobbying around International Men's Day in mid-November.
Receiving the Dad Shift's open letter to Keir Starmer in Parliament on 16 October, Minister for Scotland Ian Murray - himself a father of a 4-year-old - said:
"Thank you very much for doing this. Keep up the campaign, you've got a Government that's on your side. Let's not just change the law, let's not just change regulations, but let's change the culture and make sure all our children have the very best start in life."
Those are strong words from a Government minister. But we remain in no doubt that if we are to ensure the new Government’s parental leave review succeeds where others have failed – by providing ordinary British fathers with substantial leave of their own, and that they can actually afford to take – there is much work still to do.
It’s one thing building a consensus that dads need something better, but defining what that deal should look like is a whole other challenge.
Would ‘more paternity leave’ reduce the motherhood penalty, for example? That depends: on how long it is, how well it’s paid, and when fathers are allowed to take it.
Our view, borne out by international evidence, is that fathers need their own, non-transferable parental leave, paid as close to salary replacement level as possible, and ideally taken solo. In our 6 weeks for dads model, we’ve proposed a ‘daddy month’, in addition to the existing two weeks’ paternity leave – all paid at 90% of average earnings.
Our rough estimates suggest that this might cost the Exchequer around £3,800 per father. That’s less than we spend on statutory maternity pay, which works out at around £4,800. But it’s a whole lot more than we currently spend on dads: just £290 each, representing less than 2% of our overall parenting leave spend.
We think this additional investment in dads could bring huge benefits – for gender equality, child outcomes, both parents’ mental health and wellbeing, and to help solve the Government’s mounting childcare costs headache. What’s needed next is some solid economic costings to make that case to the parental leave review.
We, and others, are working on that. But we’re aware, too, that paternity is just one element of the Government’s parental leave review. Our statutory paternity offer is the worst in Europe, but the statutory maternity offer also leaves a lot to be desired. Just to bring the statutory pay element of both leaves up to the level of the National Living Wage – at the moment it’s less than half – would be a costly reform in itself.
In that context, can we persuade the Government to go further and provide additional weeks for dads? Over the coming weeks and months, we’re determined to find out.
Support our 6 weeks for dads campaign
Help us put a human face on our campaign by talking about your experience with paternity leave with us and joining the real-life case studies already on our website. Whether your experience was positive or negative, share your story today.
Did you know, we do not receive any funding for our campaigning? Help us keep the momentum going by donating or becoming a Fatherhood Institute supporter today.
Notes
[1] Watch our video interview with Dr Joanna Clifton-Sprigg, Associate Professor in Economics at the University of Bath and one of the authors of the study evaluating the impact of Shared Parental Leave
[2] Our Meet the Experts series, part of our 6 weeks for dads campaign, is a monthly video interview with a researcher exploring the evidence underpinning our campaign