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    26 commenti

    1. Infamous_Hippo7486 on

      Happy this is on the table for discussion. Society has moved but the way we treat new fathers – and by extension the modern family unit and how it has to operate – has not. My own workplace gives 2 weeks leave, one of which is on statutory pay, just as an example.

    2. BigFaithlessness618 on

      We had the introduction of shared parental leave recently.

      This is currently Voluntary but it needs to be made compulsory for all employers to offer.

      I will have had 5 months leave by the time my daughter reaches one I actually feel like an equal parent.

    3. Redgrapefruitrage on

      It is absolutely bonkers that paternity leave is so short. I’m due to give birth in mid October and the prospect of my husband having to go back to work after only two weeks is quite frightening. 

      Other dads I know have decided to take all their annual leave at once just to make sure they can have a good month to 6 weeks at home with their new baby, but they shouldn’t have to do that. 

    4. SkipperTheEyeChild1 on

      Anyone else happy to stay at work away from the chaos or is it just me?

    5. whatmichaelsays on

      If ever a business or government wanted to close the gender pay gap, equalising maternity and paternity pay terms would probably be the single biggest change they could make to achieve it.

    6. ThisScotRocks on

      Paternity leave does need up hauling. Especially for Same sex married couples that adopt or do IVF.

      Men do need more time adjusting to having a newborn at home as well. Two weeks isn’t enough. Let the family bond with their new addition.

    7. Had my daughter 8 months ago.

      Whilst my wife is the primary care giver, I am up in the night to feed and the one who gets up with the baby when she wakes for the day at 5am etc.

      The point being, I am involved far more than my father and his father would ever have been and yet, I received approximately the same paternity leave entitlement.

      I am also sick of hearing “you can share your partner’s maternity leave”, yes I can, but in the majority of situations due to breastfeeding etc, it’s not an efficient option for most families.

    8. pringellover9553 on

      Needs to be so much more, my husband going back after two weeks was so terrifying and hard. Obviously we all end up managing it but I couldn’t believe whilst I still couldn’t sit down properly and was heavily bleeding 24/7, in agony constantly, and emotional & hormonally wrecked, that I was being left to care for a new born baby all on my own.

      I feel it should be 6 months for both, and then another 6 months for either parent to choose to stay home.

    9. RoyalMaleGigalo on

      Paternity is woeful in this country. 2 weeks is just not enough. By wife will have a planned C section. Her recovery will be much longer than 2 weeks.

      I actually think maternity leave and pay is nowear near enough either. We are asking parents to put babies into child care from such an early age or basically give up work. Soooo financial hardship either way.

      Not to mention how crap statutory maternity pay is. During covid the government was happy to realise that people needed somthing close to their actual normal pay levels during furlough to meet their financial commitments.

      Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) is paid for up to 39 weeks. You get:

      * 90% of your average weekly earnings (before tax) for the first 6 weeks
      * £187.18 or 90% of your average weekly earnings (whichever is lower) for the next 33 weeks

      fuck the mortgage and bills I suppose.

      No wonder people arent having children.

    10. SmartDiscussion2161 on

      I got two weeks’ pay leave and planned to take my remaining two weeks’ annual leave immediately after. My A/L request was declined.

    11. Equal_Captain_5157 on

      Yes. Wtf is 2 weeks going to do? How are you supposed to get to know your child in 2 weeks?

    12. anonymouse39993 on

      It isn’t long enough

      Taking annual leave isn’t right answer either that should be spaced throughout the year to get adequate breaks.

      We may be having a child soon – I am hoping to take 2 weeks unpaid leave and the 2 weeks paternity leave

    13. apple_kicks on

      Its better to have two people at home in those early months. Mother has to breastfeed, good fathers wake up at night or change diapers. Chores around house can’t be split or put on the mother. Running house helps if two people are home and father helps out more with this if hes not working and still getting paid.

      Plus stops that shitty boss thing of not hiring young married women ‘cose they get pregnant and go on maternity’

    14. Sir_Henry_Deadman on

      I’ve not much faith in anything changing, They’ll probably just reduce Maternity leave to match instead of increasing anything.

    15. mronionbhaji on

      I wasnt entitled to take any paternity at all! I got made redundant whilst my partner was pregnant, found a new job, and couldn’t take paternity as I hasn’t been in my current job long enough. Had to use 3 weeks annual leave instead. Ridiculous system.

    16. FFGGHHII19992 on

      I’d say both paternity and maternity pay aren’t great in this country. Unless you have got an employer that tops up pay it’s not really sustainable

    17. millerz72 on

      Great. The UK is way behind on this. The Nordic countries in particular are way ahead, none of which are economically poor countries or unproductive countries (which is where the arguments against this typically arise).

    18. strawbebbymilkshake on

      I get that dads don’t need as long off to physically recover like mum does, but any decent husband and father would want to be *be there to help her* while mum recovers. He would want to see his child, care for his child, and share the early burden of “holy shit, we have a kid now” with mum equally.

      Millions of decent dads are also trying to pull their weight (night feeds, etc) while also working full time. It’s not fair and it’s not healthy.

      The setup we have means that dads don’t get to be as present as any (decent) one would like, and mums are burned out doing all the immediate care themselves alone at home while also recovering from one of the riskiest medical events of their lives.

      Literally everybody wins if paternity leave is increased. They shouldn’t have to share the leave with the mum either – they should just get more leave straight up.

    19. I don’t want this to come off as bragging, the company I work for offers 6 months of full paternity pay.

      The time I had with my daughter will likely be the best time of my life.

      2 weeks is abysmal for dad, mum and baby. I couldn’t imagine leaving my partner, who had a C-Section and still couldn’t fully move around after 2 weeks and go back to work? There needs to be some serious change and update to the social contract.

    20. Equalising this would help to equalise the gender pay gap.

      But the reality is, whomever earns the most in a family unit (which is still sadly usually the man) is going to be the one that “keeps” his career, whilst the other has to put theirs on hold.

    21. arenaross on

      I got 20 weeks and it’s absolutely baffling to me that this isn’t the norm. I feel incredibly fortunate to have been able to spend so much time early on with both my children but something needs to be changed. It’s a net win for society but something that will get zero votes politically so I dunno how you’d start to push for change.

      12 weeks should be the minimum.

    22. The country stops in it’s tracks when WFA is removed from homeowners with disposable income but new parent’s are given the bare minimum. Almost went into debt because of the extortionate increase in heating costs when having a baby in winter.

      2 weeks is barely enough time for new mothers to heal especially if they’ve had a C-section or significant tears so it’s very daunting to think about fathers leaving for work. We are very behind other European countries and should be given at least 3
      months paternity and increase the maternity pay. It’s never been more expensive to have children and austerity has only made it worse.

      All this talk about anti-immagration is ridiculous when the country has done very little to encourage young people to start families.

    23. GBParragon on

      Equalize maternity and paternity leave – atleast 3 monthly full pay for all new parents

      It’ll benefit bonds between fathers and children

      Increase birth rates within working families

      Help with equality in the work place

    24. UKSaint93 on

      Until it is economically viable to have a one-income household with children again, this will always be an impossible problem to solve.

    25. One-Remove-8801 on

      How about Sweden’s 480 days to share between parents as they wish? You can use it until the child is 4 and can even save 96 days to use up until the child is 12!

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