In the UK, a new father is still only entitled to 2 weeks paternity leave (providing they have been with their employer for 26 weeks).
Beyond these two weeks, under current legislation, it is the female parent who is required to undertake the prime caring role.
However, after just 6 weeks maternity leave, a female worker receives a drastic cut in wages, meaning that in families where the woman significantly contributes to the household income, or is the main wage earner, financial problems are unavoidable.
As a result, those households that do not conform to a 1950s-style model (i.e. lone mums, women as main wage earners, or those where the male partner chooses the prime caring role) the female parent can find herself under significant financial pressure to return to work before their child is weaned and earlier than is perhaps good for her health.
More frequently, women find themselves forcedinto the traditional role of carer. Read on (under ‘childcare’) for how this can affect a woman’s career path.
In other European countries, however, the role of caring for a new baby is negotiable between parents. This allows a father the opportunity for an equal role in his child’s upbringing and allows a couple to work out responsibilities depending on their particular situation:
Leave
Access
Per cent of wage
Norway
18 months
mother/father
70%
Sweden
18 months
mother/father
70%
Germany
14 months
mother/father
66%
UK
6 months
mother
(father = 2 weeks only)
90% for 6 weeks; £123.06/week SMP thereafter
+ discretionary part of your wage (often 50%)
A further 6 months of SMP only (£123.06/week)
Nevertheless, UK parenting legislation remains focussed on manouvering women into an outmoded ‘stay-at-home’ model, where a female worker becomes dependent on a male breadwinner following childbirth; this despite the fact that the employment sector has changed radically in recent decades, with women now making up 46% of the UK workforce (Equality and Human Rights Commission 2009).
British legislation still forces people into specific gender roles based on their sex.
Should I take paternity leave?
According to research by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (2009):
69% of fathers who take paternity leave say it worked to improve their family life…
…but only 55% of fathers take it.
See this recent news report on problems with paternity leave:
