A review of parental leave is overdue says Littler the leading specialist employment law firm, which says that low levels of paternity leave have been a known problem for the last decade.
According to Littler research from 2023. the number of men that were in receipt of Statutory Paternity Pay was just 195,300 despite there being 605,000 births in that year. There is no suggestion that these figures have significantly shifted since 2023. That suggests as many as two-thirds of men are not taking paternity leave *.
Littler notes that not all Statutory Paternity Pay (SPP) claimants are men, as secondary caregivers in same-sex relationships are also entitled to receive it.
There are also other factors that affect SPP participation – fathers who are out of work, self-employed, or who do not have the requisite service with their employer are all unable to receive payments. However, even accounting for these factors, the gap between births and SPP claims remains significant.
Littler argues that financial pressures on households after years of high inflation make taking paternity leave unattractive to many of those eligible. Statutory Paternity Pay is currently capped at approximately £187 per week. This is 26% of the estimated £710 average total weekly earnings of full-time employees in the UK**.
The total value of SPP claims amounted to just £58.9 million in 2023***. High-earning fathers are more likely to take lengthier paternity leave, as they are more likely to be working in jobs where their employer offers enhanced paternity benefits (i.e. more than SPP).
Littler says that many employers would welcome a more generous Government subsidy of paternity pay – either extending the period of Government support (currently just two weeks) or increasing the refund to employers. This could increase uptake and support employers and employees alike.
It is widely acknowledged that there are separate issues with uptake of the shared parental leave scheme, which is seen to be overly complex and not understood by many who would be eligible for this form of parental leave, leading to a consistently low uptake.
Mark Callaghan at Littler says: “It’s not surprising that the Government has launched a full review of parental leave and pay following continued low uptake of statutory paternity pay in particular, amongst other issues. It is stuck at a low level. This review will be welcomed by many employees and hopefully spotlight the call for a shift in attitudes towards men as caregivers.”
Ben Rouse, also of Littler, adds: “Whilst take up of paternity leave is high in well paid jobs at higher margin businesses, in others it is not.”
“The financial support for it from the Government is fairly minimal. As a starting point, the Government could help by significantly increasing Statutory Paternity Pay and the statutory pay for other forms of family leave, which would benefit both employees and employers.”
“At the current rates of SPP, taking time off is not an option for many men, especially when the costs of providing for a newborn child are taken into account.”
*Office for National Statistics
**Office for National Statistics
***HMRC data, May 2024
