The Women and Equalities Committee has urged the government to increase pay for statutory parental leave, as it detailed “fundamental failings” across the system in a report published today.
The select committee’s report flagged a multitude of issues including “damaging” low statutory pay, inadequate leave periods for fathers and other parents, and the exclusion of many working parents and guardians. It also highlighted system design flaws and the “unnecessary complexity” of the shared parental leave (SPL) scheme, which parents and employers have struggled to navigate.
WEC said the UK’s rate of statutory parental pay is completely out of step with the cost of living. It has not kept pace with inflation and it is far below rates in most comparable countries, the report found.
As a result of these findings, the report has called on the government to consider raising paternity pay to the level of maternity pay in the first six weeks (i.e. 90 percent) of average earnings during this parliament. It has also recommended the phased introduction of increases to statutory pay across the system in the longer term, to bring rates for all working parents up to 80 percent or more of average earnings or the real living wage.
The committee raised concerns about paternity leave, saying that the UK has “one of the worst leave offers in the developed world for fathers and other parents”.
Fathers in the UK can take a maximum of two weeks’ statutory paternity leave, which the report said is “completely out of step with how most couples want to share their parenting responsibilities” and “entrenches outdated gender stereotypes about caring”.
To tackle this gender disparity, the WEC urged the government to either amend the Employment Rights Bill to make paid paternity leave a day one right or at least commit to considering this change, in consultation with employers.
The report said that addressing the stark gendered disparity in the UK’s statutory leave periods should be considered fundamental to fixing the broken system and a key priority of the forthcoming review.
WEC called on the government to look at a phased increase in the period of paid paternity leave, and highlighted the example of reforms in Spain. It should set out a pathway to raising paid statutory paternity leave to six weeks over the course of this parliament, the report recommended.
Before it took office, the government pledged it would conduct a “full review” of parental leave in its first year. The Labour Party’s Plan to Make Work Pay stated that “the current parental leave system does not support working families”.
However, the WEC report said that very little information about the scope and conduct of this proposed review has been published.
WEC said that the government’s proposed review must also consider steps it can take to reduce wider cultural and societal barriers to fathers taking more leave.
On SPL, the report called on the government to examine the function and necessity of SPL’s complex eligibility rules, with a view to simplifying or removing the employment status, time in service and earnings criteria.
The objective for reforms of SPL must be to widen access to as broad a range of working parents as possible, including the self-employed and those on lower incomes.
The review, WEC said, should examine approaches taken in overseas systems, including the German “partnership bonus” and Portugal’s “sharing bonus”, which provide additional paid leave to couples in which both parents take a substantial portion of leave while the other returns to paid work.
It should also consider the needs of kinship carers, with a view to including them in the paid parental leave system, as well as addressing inequality for single parent families and parents of multiple births.
WEC chair Sarah Owen said: “It’s clear from the evidence in our committee’s report that the UK’s parental leave system is in urgent need of an overhaul to fit with the reality of working parents’ lives. This must start with longer and better paid paternity leave.”
She said: “The UK’s parental leave system has fallen far behind most comparable countries, and we now have one of the worst statutory leave offers for fathers and other parents in the developed world. Countries which provide a substantial period of well-paid leave for all parents have on average a four-percentage point smaller gender pay gap than those that allow less than six weeks.
“Ministers must commit to meaningful reforms in the medium term, with a view to going further towards a more gender equal parental leave system. Tinkering around the edges of a broken system will let down working parents. While much-needed substantial change to our paid parental leave system will require considerable financial investment, this would be outweighed by wider societal and economic benefits.”
Claire McCartney, policy and practice manager at the CIPD, who gave evidence to the committee, welcomed the report and its calls for the government to ensure a meaningful review of the UK’s parental leave system.
McCartney said: “In particular, we’re pleased to see the WEC’s recommendations to increase paternity leave up to six weeks at or near the full rate of pay, through a phased approach, and to simplify the currently very complicated shared parental leave system. The CIPD has called for statutory paternity leave and pay to be extended, to help balance caring responsibilities, provide much-needed financial support to working parents and assist with retention.
“It’s also important that the government review considers lessons learnt from successful international approaches and the steps it can take to reduce wider cultural and societal barriers to fathers taking more leave.”
