Shared parental leave (SPL) is a “deeply flawed and chronically failing policy” that should be scrapped and replaced with a “use it or lose it” period of paid leave for mothers and fathers, according to campaigners, trade unions and economists.
Six years after the coalition government introduced shared parental leave as a flagship policy to transform gender equality and make life easier for families, take-up remains low.
“We need to urgently overhaul the parental leave system, not just tinker around the edges. Both parents should have time to care and bond with their baby, without having to transfer leave between them,” said the Trades Union Congress (TUC) secretary general, Frances O’Grady, adding that the UK had some of the worst-paid maternity and paternity leave.
“Without meaningful reforms, many dads won’t be able to afford to take time off work when their kids are born. And women will continue to shoulder an unequal share of care and be penalised.”
A group of organisations, including Maternity Action, the Fawcett Society, the National Childbirth Trust (NCT),…
