Becoming a parent is a major transition in a person’s working life. For many expectant and new parents, the excitement of becoming a father or mother is accompanied by worries about finances, as well as logistical challenges involved in juggling their new parenting role with work.
Latest figures show that the UK’s gender pay gap is now 14.9% – which is higher than the EU average (12.7%).
The UK’s parenting leave system is one
of the most gender-unequal in the developed world. Its structure – followed by
the vast majority of employers across the country – places responsibility for
looking after babies, for the entire first year of their lives, firmly in the
hands of mothers.
Statutory paternity leave and pay in the UK is among the lowest in Europe. The pay rate is lower than the minimum wage, and represents about a quarter of the median pay for a full-time working man (£652 per week).
The Fatherhood Institute is conducting the most comprehensive review ever undertaken in Britain, of decades of research into the roles of fathers in families.
We have been invited by the House of Commons Petitions Committee, to feed into its exploration of whether or not to extend maternity leave for 3 months in response to the Covid-19 lockdown[1].