Families who earn less being failed by shared parental leave

Shared parental leave is leaving lower-paid dads worse off, an exclusive BBC report suggests.

The scheme was introduced in 2014 to help new parents share childcare responsibilities.

Although it was brought in to help parents, it seems shared parental leave is less family-friendly than hoped.

What is shared parental leave?

Shared parental leave lets parents share up to 50 weeks of leave and up to 37 weeks of pay after having or adopting a child.

With statutory paternal leave, dads only get two weeks paternity leave, so shared parental leave was meant to help them take a more active role in looking after their kids.

But new research shows this only happens in higher-earning families, who are mostly based mostly in London and the south-east.

Less than 5% of dads have used shared parental leave

Figures from a freedom of information request by campaign group The Dad Shift were shared with the BBC, showing:

• 60% of those using shared parental leave are in the top 20% of earners
• only 5% of dads taking shared parental leave came from the bottom 50% of earners
• overall, under 5% of eligible dads have used the scheme

A 2023 government review found that almost half (45%) of all dads, didn’t know shared parental leave was an option.

The reality for lower-paid dads

As the sole earner in his family, Josh Wiborg could only take two weeks of statutory paternity leave when his twin girls were born.

Because his wife wasn’t working, Josh wasn’t entitled to shared parental leave.

Statutory paternity leave pays either £184.03 a week (less than half the minimum wage) or 90% of your average earnings, whichever is lowest.

Josh told the BBC he felt like a stranger to his daughters and both he and his partner were struggling.

But other dads, like Pete Target, have praised the scheme for bringing them closer to their kids.

Thanks to shared parental leave, Pete was able to take nine weeks off. It wasn’t paid as it was outside the government’s 37-week window for support, but he was glad for the time with his 9-month-old.   

But he told the BBC it was a “difficult financial decision” and although he was lucky his family could afford to lose the money, “something has to improve” so that more dads can afford to take it.

Looking ahead

The government has promised to review parental leave, saying they want statutory paternity leave to be a right from day one for all employees rather than the current 26 weeks.

But campaigners say that the UK’s system is the worst in Europe.

The Dad Shift is pushing for better solutions that would let dads be more hands on parents without worrying about finances – if you agree, you can sign their open letter to the government.