I’m thrilled MPs are taking paternity leave – if only it were as easy for the rest of us | Tommer Spence
R.The beginning of pregnancy is always a time for some uncertainty, but when I learned and my partner we expect our second child last year, I faced a question that I did not test with our first: Will I be able to take anything paternity leave? The nature of my work includes work to the contract, and I was scheduled to start with a new organization within days. Britain The current paternity vacation system,, It has not changed mainly since its implementation in 2003, only gives parents or other common performance to leave if they were with the employer himself since the start of pregnancy.
The nature of the exclusion of the Parents’ vacation was felt as a common issue for a long time in our policy, which leads to the emergence of new campaigns such as Dad. So the news that the Scottish secretary Ian Murray will be The first minister in the Council of Ministers to take a full paternity vacation – The decision signed by the Prime Minister – is a welcome indicator and its delay that the people who run our country at least have some understanding of the facts facing new parents today.
It is clear that Murray has an impressive commitment to parents playing an active role in raising their children, as it is clear from his decision to publicly issue news. However, given this, it was disappointing with his vision mentioned in his announcement that “the biggest obstacle to paternity is the culture” and that “from a broader political perspective, I think it is really important for parents to know that they can take it” – the allegations that the government indicates You did not fully realize the challenges faced by parents and other participating performance.
Although Murray is right to challenge any cultural issues that prevent parents who take paternity leave, The evidence is clear The vast majority of parents want a vacation, but many of the barriers they face in the old and mixed policies available to them. In addition to that it is limited to the length of employment, the United Kingdom is applying The least paternity vacation in EuropeWith a much lower period 12.7 average week Among the countries of economic cooperation and development (OECD).
It is not surprising, then A poll commissioned by the Trading Union conference (TUC) It was found that the most common cause of not taking parents is the financial pressure. The absorption of paternity leave is the lowest among the smaller income families, while less than a third of the participants who work for their own account-who have no entitlement to the paternity leave-take any time at all, compared to 79 % in general. Similarly, The research conducted by the charitable organization and then thoroughly I found that one out of every five new fathers had no vacation options available to them and that 62 % of the second parents would have taken more leave if the legal paternity salaries were higher. Cultural obstacles in front of the mostly leave with employers, as each of the investigative studies found that many parents felt pressed to reduce leave or continue to work during that.
I am very lucky because the employer allows me to take leave, although I am not qualified to obtain legal salaries, but the pressure of my contract that ends later in the year means that it will be shorter than what I would like. I am also not qualified to take any shared parental leave when my partner returns to work, and I am deprived of the opportunity that I had with my older child to spend a long period of time together, and to enhance our relationship and confidence as the career. Parents’ joint leave was presented to enable parents to spend longer periods of leave, but they clearly failed, with Only 5 % absorption Between the new common cows. It contains many of the same barriers formed by the legal paternity leave, such as lack of eligibility and low wages, as well as any leave that is taken away from the mother’s allowance, rather than being exclusive to the common homeland.
academic The research has shown The most successful countries in encouraging parents to take a vacation that provides them with long periods of protected time – which they must “use or lose” – along with a high level of wages. Although the UK government is currently starting to make paternity leave the “first day” in Britain, it does not plan to change the time or payment available to the new participants, which means that the new policy is likely to have a limited impact on absorption. It will also not help many parents who work for their own and who, unlike mothers, have no right to legal wages.
There are promising signs that go beyond Murray’s announcement that the government may make some necessary changes to enable more parents to spend time on vacation at the birth of their children. Work statement She promised to review the parenting leave during its first year from the office and MP Stella Crisi Suggest amendment To the draft employment rights law, with the support of many of its colleagues, he called for a protected parental partner or parents for all employees. But to make a real difference, they must go further: extending the wage for the legal paternity of parents who work for their own account; A longer period of leave is provided exclusively to the participants; Accompanying this with an increase in wages, at least for those who have the least income who get the lowest support at the present time.
As my second experience approaches paternity leave, I can only hope that the government depends on its warm words and makes the necessary reforms to ensure that there are no other fathers in the face of anxiety or obstacles that spend time with their newborn born children.
