Fewer than 2% of new dads have benefitted from shared parental leave in the 10 years since it began, according to new research.
A Freedom of Information request to HM Revenue and Customs by the Dad Shift campaign found that only 10,600 fathers took shared parental leave in the 2023-24 financial year, and this figure only grew by 400 this year.
By contrast, more than 623,000 women benefitted from statutory maternity pay, and 205,300 men took paternity leave.
The Dad Shift calculates that at this rate, it will take 490 years to get to a full uptake of the policy. This is despite a poll by the campaign group showing that almost nine in 10 of fathers want to be a bigger part of their children’s lives.
Furthermore, 60% of shared parental leave is taken up by top earners, leaving the group to describe the policy as “elitist and broken”.
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More SPL was claimed in London than Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, the North West and East combined, according to a response to a parliamentary question from Labour MP Josh Simons.
Alex Lloyd Hunter, co-founder of The Dad Shift, said: “The UK has the worst statutory paternity pay in Europe – just two weeks on less than half the minimum wage.
“Shared parental leave was meant to help change things, but guess what – a policy that pays virtually no money, is ridiculously complex to administer, and requires men to take leave away from the mothers of their children didn’t work all that well.”
Statutory SPL is currently paid at a rate of £184.03 a week or 90% of average weekly earnings, whichever is lower. This will increase to £187.18 a week from next April.
Figures compiled by Eversheds Sutherland earlier this year found that the total number of SPL claims from both men and women hit 25,000 in 2023-24, although this is still a low proportion of those eligible.
George Gabriel, co-founder of The Dad Shift, took SPL alongside a more generous paternity leave package from his employer after the birth of his daughter.
He said: “Getting a real chunk of time off when my baby arrived made a massive difference to me and my family. The time off I was able to take meant I was there in the early months when my wife was recovering from her C-section and couldn’t go up or down the stairs.
“It meant I was there through the awful days and nights in hospital after our daughter had a head injury. It meant I was there with the time I needed to make a start on one of the most important challenges a man can face – becoming a halfway decent dad.”
Gabriel added that SPL gives fathers “virtually no money” and self-employed fathers receive nothing at all.
Shared parental leave is a farce and only an option for those who can afford it. It is clear it isn’t working and something needs to change” – MP Kirith Entwistle
The government has pledged to complete a review of parental leave, including shared parental leave, within its first year in office.
“Working families deserve way better than this, and if the Labour Party want to prove they’re on folks’ side, then this forthcoming review is the opportunity to deliver,” he added.
Labour MP Kirith Entwistle said: “There are so many mothers out there right now who desperately need that support, and dads who have no choice but to go back to work.
“Shared parental leave is a farce and only an option for those who can afford it. It is clear it isn’t working and something needs to change. With all the young mums and dads in Westminster now there’s a huge amount of energy to deliver a better deal for the country.”
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The Dad Shift is calling on the government to improve Statutory Paternity Leave in the review so that dads are offered a substantial amount of time, at a rate of pay they can afford to take, and which will help parents share caring responsibilities more equally if they choose.
