Paternity Leave: Dads Say Thanks, But No Thanks

[Jazzy]

New fathers are not taking up extra paternity leave to look after their children because of the low pay they would receive.

Men are eligible to take up to 26 weeks leave when a new baby is born, however, if they do so they receive only the statutory rate of £136-a-week, which is rarely topped up by employers.

A study by the TUC showed that of the 285,000 men who could have taken leave, just 1,650 did so in 2011/12.

The chief reason was that most could not afford to take a significant drop in pay.

In contrast, most fathers take the first two weeks of paternity leave, usually topped up by employers to full pay.

TUC General Secretary Frances O'Grady said: "A good gift for fathers this Sunday would be for ministers to increase statutory paternity pay rates and for employers to top it up for longer, so that new dads can spend more time with their children.

"Poor levels of financial support are preventing new dads from taking extra time off and are particularly affecting low-paid fathers who simply cannot afford to take leave.

"Extending paternity pay from two to six weeks and paying a better statutory rate would make a massive difference, as has been shown in other countries."

A Business Department spokesman said: "The current system for parental leave is old-fashioned and too rigid. This is why we are introducing a system of shared parental leave from April 2015 so that fathers can take more leave if they want to in the early days of a child's life.

"We want to challenge the myth that it is the mother's role to stay at home and care for children."

Source

I think the real reason is because they don't WANT to stay home and take care of their children. Many men I know, think it's up to the woman to stay home.

What are your thoughts on this?

 

[Evil Eye]

I'm sure there're plenty of people who think like that.
However, kids don't exactly come free and that compensation boils down to an hourly wage about three times below minimum wage. It's not attractive at all unless you already have money to spend.

 

[DrLeftover]

Perhaps I am unusual.

I took time off when both of my daughters were born, although it wasn't Twenty Six Weeks.

And I did take time off to take them to doctors and all that if my wife had to work.

Most recently, that was a couple of months ago now, after my oldest duaghter, now twenty five, had a follow up after shoulder surgery and her fiance (now husband) had to work.

 

[seasidemike]

I am not sure the law there, but here men are allowed the paternity leave as well, but it is a situation where it is either the father or the mother who takes it, not both. It can be split between the two, but the reality it that it is mostly still traditional that the mother takes the time off. Also, if the man is the higher salary earner it makes sense financially that he keeps working.