The UK's statutory paternity offer is the least generous in Europe, and one of the worst in the developed world. Britain's fathers - and their families - deserve better.
Our infographic on why this campaign is important and its benefits
Economists suggest our recommended model could bring the UK +£12bn/year
Campaign
What we're calling for
We want all UK fathers to have the right to six weeks’ well-paid leave in their baby’s first year, as a minimum.
This should include:
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Two weeks’ paternity leave, to be taken after the birth
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A ‘daddy month’ (four weeks) of non-transferable parental leave, to be taken within the baby’s first year - ideally solo, when the mother returns to work
To allow fathers to provide unplanned support during the mother's maternity leave, we recommend an allowance of additional 'crisis days'.
The six weeks' leave should be paid at 90% of average weekly earnings, just as the first six weeks of maternity leave is now. It should be a Day 1 right for all employed fathers / second parents, and with a payment 'cap' for high earners.
There should be a Paternity Allowance for self-employed fathers/second parents, similar to the Maternity Allowance currently available for mothers ineligible to maternity leave.
For all this to happen, we need the Government to reform the statutory paternity and parental leave system.
Discover our other fatherhood-focused campaign, 'Looking out for dad', and help us improve the health support that fathers receive
Why change is needed
Fathers need a good amount of protected time to:
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Bond with their babies
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Support mothers’ birth recovery and breastfeeding
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Become skilled and confident solo caregivers
The current UK statutory paternity offer excludes too many fathers – including those who are self-employed, aren’t classed as ‘employees’, or have changed employer within the previous ten months; and those who DO qualify, but can’t afford to take the leave.
The Labour Government's Employment Rights Bill promises to make paternity leave a Day 1 right, but NOT pay - and in any case, what's needed is a fundamental redesign of our parenting leave system.
Our country is missing an opportunity to become more competitive by enhancing statutory support for fathers.
Six weeks for dads would help:
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Many more fathers take leave
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Many mothers return to work earlier
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Reduce the gender pay gap
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Reduce financial stress for families of young children
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Lessen demand for paid-for early years education and childcare
Why six weeks?
We are proposing the 6 weeks model as a significant improvement on the current offer, which has barely changed since it was introduced in 2003.
This would offer a middle ground between the current offer and ‘best in class’ Scandinavian systems – which feature longer periods of parental leave, clearly ringfenced for each parent.
We see our proposal as a vital stepping stone towards such a system: for the first time, mothers and fathers would have access to an equal amount of well-paid leave – and fathers would have an individual right to a month of parental leave, which is key to transforming gendered roles and attitudes.
We are working hard behind the scenes to push for the Government's parental leave review to adopt such ideas.
The Inspiring Dads Parental Leave Database (free access) allows you to search for employers which meet our campaign goals, offering six weeks or more of fully paid leave for fathers
What we're doing
How you can help
Case studies
Meet the experts
Further resources
Data and analysis
An infographic summary of the University of Bath study which calculated the economic benefit of our #6weeksfordads model
An infographic on why this campaign is important, and its benefits
A summary of data gathered by Clare Matysova on UK higher education institutions' leave offers for parents
The Inspiring Dads Parental Leave Database allows you to search for organisations that meet our campaign goals, offering a minimum of six weeks fully paid leave for dads
A table showing where the UK stands in the international league table for paid paternity and parental leave
A summary of what the UK spends on fathers
A summary of paid leave for fathers globally
Blogs
Visit our blog page and select the 'work' category to access all our campaign related blogs since 2023
News coverage
Visit our news page to access all press articles which refer to our campaign or in which we've been quoted talking about our campaign