Government is only taking baby steps on parental rights

It’s Parents’ Week this week, and a chance to celebrate families. For many this will mean reflecting on the time that they spend together as a family and the perennial challenge of trying to find more time in the day. The Government seems poised for reflection as well. After months of consultation and negotiation, ministers are about to announce their proposals on their Modern Workplaces agenda.

IPPR has long argued for a more progressive parental leave system that would not only provide the mother with a leave entitlement sufficient to ensure the health of both her and her baby, but also a similar paid entitlement for fathers on a ‘use it or lose it’ basis. A third bloc of shared parental leave, also paid, could be split by parents in a way that works for them and their family.
 
The Government is taking baby steps towards this agenda by proposing that mums and dads be able to share a rebranded form of maternity leave, through a transfer of some of the mother’s leave entitlement to the father. The idea of shared parental leave reduces the pay penalty that many mothers face when returning to work after having a baby and sends a message that fathers should be able to take time off to be with their babies. But only allowing the mother to transfer leave to the father if she wants to reflects strong assumptions about maternal and paternal expectations and responsibilities. It seems as though fathers won’t have their own separate entitlement to paternity leave – they will be reliant on their partners being eligible. Unless fathers are given greater rights to paid leave, more fundamental inequalities will persist.
 
A more progressive, family-friendly agenda doesn’t need to cost more – with better childcare and parental leave rights, we could boost the maternal employment rate where women are using their skills more productively. IPPR has shown that universal childcare pays a net return to the government through tax revenue generated on higher rates of maternal employment.
 
A combination of universal childcare provision and a fairer parental leave system would enable families to better balance work and caring responsibilities and, in so doing, help to promote higher employment rates and reduce gender inequalities.
 
 Dalia Ben-Galim is associate director at IPPR