EOC calls for increased paternity rights

The Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) has called for additional paternity rights for fathers, following new research that found that many new dads would like more time to look after their children.

An EOC survey of 1,200 fathers found that 79% would be happy to stay at home and look after their baby, while 87% said they felt as confident as their partner when caring for their child.

The EOC said the findings represented a “dramatic shift” in attitudes from 20 years ago, when more than half of fathers (52%) believed a father should be the provider, while the mother stayed at home. The latest research found that only one fifth of fathers now held this view.

The Commission is now calling for ‘shared’ parental leave rights to be introduced, in the second six months following the birth of a child, which would give fathers a more equal chance to take a break from work to care for their baby.

Other recommendations include; increasing the level of Statutory Paternity Pay, from £106 to earning related pay with a cap; and increasing paid paternity leave from two to four weeks.

According to the EOC research, 53% of fathers felt the current amount of leave was not enough, while 80% felt that the level of statutory paternity pay was too low.

The government has already proposed allowing working mothers to “transfer” some of their maternity leave to their partners, but the EOC says that this would not go far enough.

The EOC research found that 94% of fathers currently take time off from work during the first eight weeks following their child’s birth. The main reasons for not taking more time off included loss of pay, workload pressures and employers’ attitudes.

Jenny Watson, Acting Chair of the EOC said: “This research reveals how much attitudes to fatherhood have shifted in recent years. Dads no longer see themselves solely as the breadwinner. They want to spend more time at home, actively sharing the responsibility of caring for their baby.

“While the government’s transferable maternity leave is a step in the right direction, it only gives fathers access to leave where the mother has been working and has maternity rights to share.

“Shared parental leave, as we are recommending, allows new dads to play a greater role in caring for their children during their early years, which they have demonstrated they want.”

(KMcA/SP)