New calls to give fathers or second parents six weeks paid leave in first year after baby is born
dailyrecord.co.ukA new online petition is calling for a change to parental leave rules for working fathers and second parents during the first year after the birth of a baby.
Petition creator Jeremy Davies also wants to see a new Paternity Allowance introduced offering similar benefits provided to those on Maternity Leave.
He argues that the UK’s gender pay gap is above the EU average and proposes that “longer, better-paid leave for fathers should help support greater gender equality in the labour market” adding that countries offering fathers more than six weeks of paid leave have “smaller gender pay and labour force participation gaps”.The petition proposes: “Change parental leave and pay to give employed fathers/second parents two weeks' paternity leave, plus four weeks' non-transferable parental leave, paid at 90%, to be taken in the baby's first year.
Introduce a Paternity Allowance with similar benefits for other fathers/second parents.”It continues: “More than half of UK families struggle financially when fathers take paternity leave.
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