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Campaigners say shared parental leave is failing working families a decade after the scheme was introduced to help new parents share childcare. Introduced by the Conservative government in 2011, shared parental leave is a state-funded scheme that allows parents to share up to 50 weeks of leave and up to 37 weeks of pay after the birth or adoption of a child. However, it is failing to benefit all dads equally. New analysis, seen exclusively by BBC News, shows that the uptake is heavily skewed towards higher earners, predominantly based in London and south-east England.
Fewer than 5% of all eligible fathers use shared parental leave, and those who have used the scheme are positive about its benefits. But it was found that the take-up is heavily skewed towards higher earners, with the top 20% of earners making up 60% of those to use shared parental leave. While just 5% of those who took up shared parental leave came from the bottom 50% of earners.
The government has committed to reviewing parental leave during its first year in office. It wants statutory paternity leave to be a day-one right for all employees. Currently, it applies to dads who have been employed for 26 weeks or more. Some businesses pay out of their pocket to offer enhanced paternity leave and shared parental-leave packages that could enable a more substantial parental-leave package that can take the burden off businesses and ensure every parent can benefit.
The Dad Shift, a campaign group, called for more generous parental leave, paid through taxation. The group created awareness about the advantage of the package and got people on board. A government review from 2023 suggests almost half (45%) of all dads were not even aware of the option of taking shared parental leave
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