Recent protests across the UK have highlighted problems with the current paternal leave system. Under current government guidelines new fathers are entitled to two weeks of paternity leave paid at £187.18 a week or 90% of their earnings, whichever is lower. The first ‘parent strikes’ are calling for six weeks paternity leave at 90% pay (Carrick, 2026).
Despite protestors demanding extended paternity leave, many fathers/non-birthing parents don’t take full advantage of the parental leave they are currently entitled to, with one in three taking no paternal leave (Koslowski and Kadar-Satat, 2019).
Description of paternity option in the UK (Dadlife, 2019)
So why aren’t new fathers taking full advantage of their parental benefits?
1. The ‘gendering’ of parental policies. The UK has one the most unequal statutory parental leave systems in terms of gender in the developed world (Women and Equalities Committee, 2019). Parental policies in the UK mainly focus on mothers, offering 52 weeks to birthing parents. Whilst fathers are only entitled to two weeks of leave (Koslowski and Kadar-Satat, 2019).
2. The gender pay gap On average men earn more than women. Men therefore aren’t willing to take full advantage of their parental leave. We can see what this would look like for new parents by using Sam and his partner Julie as an example.
Following the birth of their daughter, Sam is entitled to two weeks paternal leave. Whilst Julie is entitled to 52 weeks maternal leave. Both are paid at 90% of their average earnings or £187.18 a week, whichever is lower.
As men in full-time employment out-earn women in full-time employment, Sam will be paid £187.18 per week, losing roughly £600 pay per week (Office for National Statistics, 2025). Whilst Julie loses an average of £500 per week. It therefore makes more financial sense for Sam to return to work earlier or not take paternal leave and for Julie to stay home and care for their daughter.
The low rate of pay for parental leave deters fathers from taking more than the standard of two weeks parental leave, as many families do not have the financial security to absorb a significant reduction in pay (Women and Equalities Committee, 2025).
3. The constraints of corporate culture: Corporate culture in the UK places pressure on employees to be the ‘ideal worker’; workers must show an overwhelming commitment to work at the detriment of any obligations outside work. This pressure can leave new fathers, like Sam, feeling judged as weird or work-shy by colleagues and employers when requesting parental leave (Kelland et al., 2022 in Atkinson, 2025).
New fathers also fear losing out on promotions when taking parental leave. To combat this, they take shorter parental leave or continue working whilst on parental leave ( Atkinson, 2025).
Benefits of paternal leave for women and businesses.
Providing new fathers with six weeks of parental leave paid at 90% of weekly earnings would increase the uptake of parental leave.
This would increase new mothers’ involvement in the labour market by allowing them to return to work earlier. This could help to address the gender pay gap and allow mothers’ more chances to progress in the workplace.
Benefits for businesses would include reduced staff turnover, increased productivity, lower recruitment costs, and greater skill retention (Clifton-Sprigg et al., 2025).
Adelphe can help to address the problems with parental leave by;
1. Working with families and businesses to foster a healthier work-life balance.
2. Empowering and supporting men and women to become more confident, allowing them to take advantage of parental leave without being afraid or embarrassed.
3. Encouraging business and new parents to see the positive aspects of parental leave and how it can benefit them.
References
Atkinson, J. (2025). Reconciling the ideal worker norm and involved fatherhood: new fathers’ experiences of requesting Shared Parental leave in UK organisations. Community, Work, & Family, 28(3), pp. 363-386. DOI: 10.1080/13668803.2023.2274276
Carrick, H. (2026). Campaigners protest outside Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh over paternity leave during nationwide ‘Parent Strike’. Available: Campaigners protest outside Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh over paternity leave during nationwide ‘Parent Strike’ [Accessed: 28/08/2026]
Clifton-Sprigg, J., Hunt, A., Zelezetskii, L., and Bailey, J. (2025). Costs and benefits of improved leave for fathers in the first year: Too good to ignore. Available: https://www.bath.ac.uk/publications/costs-and-benefits-of-improved-leave-for-fathers-in-the-first-year-too-good-to-ignore/ [Accessed: 20/08/2026]
Daddilife. (2019). Parental leave options. Available: https://www.daddilife.com/dads-at work/guides/parental-leave-options/ [Accessed: 22/08/2026]
Getty Images. (2026). Man Holding Baby Stock Images. Available: https://www.istockphoto.com/photos/man-holding-baby [Accessed: 22/08/2026]
Koslowski, A. and Kadar-Satat, G. (2019). Fathers at work: explaining the gaps between entitlement to leave policies and uptake. Community, Work, & Family, 22(2), pp. 129-145. DOI: 10.1080/13668803.2018.1428174
Office for National Statistics. (2025). Gender Pay Gap in the UK: 2025. Available: https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkingh ours/bulletins/genderpaygapintheuk/2025 [Accessed: 21/08/2026]
Standley, N. (2025). Parental leave and pay for new parents to be reviewed. Available: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c70rreer004o [Accessed: 20/08/2026]
Women and Equalities Committee. (2025). Equality at work: Paternity and shared parental leave. House of Commons committee report. No.6. Available: https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm5901/cmselect/cmwomeq/502/report.html [Accessed: 21/08/2026]
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