
British men urged to join ‘Dad strike' calling for more paternity leave
British fathers are being urged to join the world's first 'Dad strike' to protest about the UK's statutory paternity leave, which campaigners say is the least generous in Europe.
Fathers are planning to protest with their babies outside the Department for Business and Trade in London on 11 June in an effort to force the government to improve leave for dads and non-birthing partners.
The strike, organised by campaign group the Dad Shift, is being hailed as a 'revolutionary' moment in the UK's gender equality movement, with organisers arguing that women will continue to face maternity discrimination if low take-up of paternity and parental leave continues.
Ministers were accused of 'betraying' new fathers this week after it emerged that a promised 'day one' right to paternity leave would not include the right to statutory pay under Labour's flagship employment rights bill.
George Gabriel, from the Dad Shift, said low paternity leave pay meant many fathers could not afford to take any time off after the birth of their children. Research by the group shows that the average British father spends 43% fewer waking hours with their child in the first year of life – 1,403 hours compared with 3,293 for the average mother.
'The UK's rubbish paternity leave system means from the day our kids arrive most fathers are forced to make an impossible choice – between going out to work and provide for our families, and providing them with the one thing that matters most, our presence,' said Gabriel.
Eligible UK fathers and non-birthing parents currently get two weeks on less than half the minimum wage, with self-employed co-parents not qualifying for state support. Eligible mothers on maternity leave receive 90% of their average weekly earnings for the first six weeks, then £187.18 for 33 weeks.
Society and companies were far ahead of the government, said Gabriel. According to new polling by Whitestone for the Dad Shift, most children under 11 are picked up from school or nursery every day by their mothers, even though 86% of respondents agree 'it's better when both parents have opportunities to be equally active caregivers'.
Companies are increasingly offering partners better parental leave, with the BBC offering 52 weeks on a pay structure, while Aviva's co-parents get 52 weeks with the first 26 weeks at full pay, according to a Paternity League Table released this week by the childcare provider Koru Kids. Barclays, HSBC, KPMG, and BDO LLP offer only two weeks on full pay.
Marvyn Harrison, a self-employed father of two and a founder of the podcast Dope Black Dads, said the strike would play a key role in showing fathers who wanted to spend more time with their kids that they were not on their own. 'The most important thing we have to do is awaken men to the problem,' he said. 'Fighting for paternity leave and paternity pay is a [way] for us to start to interrupt how we over commit in the workplace and don't commit enough in our families.'
UK paternity leave, at £187.18 a week, is the least-generous statutory offer in Europe, with the UK ranked 40th out of 43 countries in the OECD. It accounts for 1.9% of all government spending on parental leave, with the rest spent on maternity leave. According to the Fatherhood Institute, which is campaigning for six weeks' well-paid leave in the baby's first year, this leaves an average-earning, full-time working father more than £1,000 worse off.
Take-up is also low compared with other countries. For every 100 babies born, only 31.6 men receive statutory paternity pay, compared with an average of 57 men in the 18 OECD with available data, according to evidence the group provided to the women and equalities select committee.
Companies are being urged to give fathers the afternoon off work to strike, with the communications agency The Romans and On The Tools, a platform for plumbers, electricians and other trades, pledging their support. 'So many dads in our industry feel they're missing out on crucial time with their children,' said Lee Wilcox, the chief executive of On the Tools
Pete Target, who works in local government, said he was going to strike because he remembered how he felt when, after two weeks with his newborn baby, he suddenly found himself thrust back into work. 'Being apart from my baby felt awful,' he said. 'I was busy bonding with him and it was a massive wrench.'
He hopes the strike will start a dads' revolution, and force the government to listen. 'No more gritting teeth and just kind of pushing through,' he said. 'It's time to be more open about the struggles dads face and to show up and say, 'This is what we need. We have needs too'.'
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Belfast Telegraph
29 minutes ago
- Belfast Telegraph
Nursing home documentary should be investigated by gardai
He also said the state is too reliant on private nursing home care and 'far too many' people in Ireland go into nursing homes 'far too early'. Labour TD Marie Sherlock said during Leaders' Questions that there are 'huge questions for Government' over how to care for older people in Ireland. She said there are no minimum staffing levels for nursing homes, despite there being such standards in Northern Ireland and elsewhere. 'Are you comfortable that the nursing home sector is becoming dominated by big business in Ireland?' she asked. Responding, Mr Harris said: 'The short answer is I believe the state is too reliant on the private market when it comes to nursing home provision. 'That's why we established a commission of care because I do think we need to look at the entire model of how we care for older people in this country.' He also told the Dail: 'I've been reflecting on this, and I fully accept that people work in very demanding environments, I fully accept that as well. 'But I do also believe what stems from what we've seen on our television screens in recent days are real questions of personal accountability. 'There are laws in our land today. There are laws in relation to assault, there are laws in relation to how we conduct ourselves, and I would urge that a referral is made to An Garda Siochana in relation to the footage that we saw. 'Because what I saw with my own two eyes, the haunting scenes of people being, in my view, physically assaulted in their home, is something that – the Government has responsibilities here to do things, absolutely, but so too do people who carry out those actions. 'I do think there's a need for a Garda investigation into what we saw in relation to the individual actions of people in relation to that.' He also said Hiqa has questions to answer as there were 'serious shortcomings'. He added: 'There are many good private nursing homes, big and small, right across the country and I don't have an ideological view in relation that. 'I just want older people to have choice in relation to their care. I want their families to be supported in making those decisions. 'I want to know, whether it's a public nursing home or a private nursing home, that everyone is safe, that everyone is being treated with dignity. 'I do think we should also be more ambitious about care in the community. I do believe that. I believe far too many people in Ireland go into a nursing home far too early. I can think of good examples of where we have housing alternatives in place and home care opportunities, but they're far too rare. 'But I also think there are genuine, serious issues of personal accountability. 'There is no law, there is no ideology, or there is no model of care that can excuse away – either in its existence or its absence – the conduct of people who decided to physically manhandle elderly people with dementia, and I want them held accountable and I want the gardai to look at the matter.'


Scotsman
31 minutes ago
- Scotsman
Gregor Poynton MP welcomes huge investment in Scotland following spending review announcement
Gregor Poynton MP has welcomed the Chancellor of the Exchequer's Spending Review, which confirms billions of pounds of investment to Scotland. Sign up to our Politics newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Commenting on the Spending Review, Mr Poynton said: 'This spending review shows Labour's commitment to much needed investment in Scotland's renewal." 'From the Acorn Project to a national supercomputer in Edinburgh to our defence industry, this Labour government is investing in Scotland's future while the SNP carps from the sidelines.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The UK Government has announced funding for projects across Scotland, including joint investment in the Falkirk and Grangemouth Growth Deal to secure Grangemouth's future and up to £452 million over four years for City and Growth Deals in Scotland, benefitting communities across Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Inverness, Tay Cities and Border regions. Gregor Poynton MP at the Scottish Co-Operative Discovery Centre Scotland will also benefit from local growth through the Plan for Communities and new Local Growth Fund, which will invest in local communities across Scotland.


Daily Record
38 minutes ago
- Daily Record
John Swinney pledges to do 'everything we can' to save jobs at Alexander Dennis
More than a century of bus manufacture in Falkirk could soon come to an end with cheap imports from China blamed. John Swinney has pledged his Government will do "everything we can" to save jobs at an historic Scots bus manufacturers. Alexander Dennis announced yesterday it planned to centralise its operations in England by closing its two factories in Falkirk, with 400 staff at risk of redundancy. Such a move would bring to an end more than a century of bus building in the area after the firm's owners blamed competition from China for making it uncompetitive. The announcement is a fresh blow for the Falkirk district after the recent closure of the refinery in nearby Grangemouth last month. The First Minister told MSPs today: "This issue has been occupying a great deal of the focus and the attention of the Deputy First Minister and I, and the UK Government, since we became aware of the situation over the last few weeks. But Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar accused the SNP Government of overlooking Scottish industry in favour of ordering buses from China. He pointed to the success of the local bus network in Greater Manchester, which runs a fleet of 160 new vehicles all built in Falkirk. Andy Burnham, the English city's mayor, said the buses were "a bit of Scotland right here in Greater Manchester". Almost all bus services in Scotland are run by private operators who are free to order buses from any manufacturer they choose. Swinney insisted state aid regulations – in the form of the UK-wide Subsidy Control Act – prevented the UK Government from directly procuring from a single supplier like Alexander Dennis. He quoted a joint letter from the UK and Scottish governments, which pledged to 'work closely with Alexander Dennis at this challenging time'. He added: 'That's us indicating that we're keen to do everything we can to find a way through the Subsidy Control Act provisions, so the Government can continue to operate within the law, which we must do, but also, we can support manufacturing in Scotland, which is my priority.' Sarwar hit back: "If John Swinney can't figure out a way to order buses in Scotland, I suggest he picks up the phone to (Greater Manchester Mayor) Andy Burnham and see how he managed to do it. 'Almost five times as many bus orders from Manchester.' Sarwar's claim stems from the second phase of the Scottish Government's green bus initiative ScotZEB, which ordered 44 buses from Alexander Dennis. However, according to a press release from the time, 137 buses were ordered from the firm in the first phase, amounting to a total of 181. Burnham – who has previously visited the Falkirk site – said: "Our iconic Bee Network buses are a bit of Scotland right here in Greater Manchester. "We have over 160 Alexander Dennis buses criss-crossing our city-region every day – connecting our communities to opportunity. "If Greater Manchester can invest in world-class Scottish bus manufacturing, then why can't the SNP Scottish Government?"