A press release has arrived reminding me that “in 10 months’ time, new fathers will finally gain the right to request six months paternity leave, bringing the UK into line with much of Europe”. That reminder came courtesy of “cloud services provider” Star. Other, erm, cloud service providers, are available I’m sure.
I’ve blogged my thoughts on increased paternity rights before, and why I’m all for it. But I was intrigued as to the “bringing into line with the rest of Europe” comment. It’s true that the UK’s current two week offering for fathers is pretty paltry by continental standards – and shocking that fathers had none at all in the UK until as recent as 1999, pretty much the last EU country to do so.
Now here’s the thing: other countries tend to pay parents more for their leave. In Norway, for example, parents get up to 44 weeks with 100 per cent pay compensation or 54 weeks with 80 per cent compensation. Of these, six weeks are reserved for the father.
Six weeks may be rather short of the UK’s impending six months. But there are plenty of naysayers at the moment saying that fathers won’t take such lengths of leave - and I’m inclined to agree. But it’s got nothing to do with any notion of males clinging to their masculinity or being work obsessed. It’s just down to economic realities. How many workers can afford to take months of unpaid or minimally-paid leave? Minus from that the amount who could still afford it with a new child to pay for, and you’re left with very few.
How many Norwegian fathers take their month and a half of leave to look after their newly born? Ninety per cent. And 17 per cent would like to take more leave than allowed by the regulation.
It’s not the UK’s length of parental leave that needs bringing into line with Europe. It’s the pay.