'Dad strike' as UK's paternity leave worst in Europe

Yahoo

20-05-2025

As traditional gender roles around parenting shift, the UK's outdated parental leave system is falling behind. British fathers get the worst deal in Europe, with just two weeks off at pay that amounts to less than half the minimum wage.
In a bid to demand change, fathers in the UK will host the world's first-ever 'dad strike' in June. Organised by the campaign group the Dad Shift, fathers and non-birthing parents across the UK will request time off from work to protest outside government buildings in London and Edinburgh, calling for stronger and fairer parental leave policies.
Offering adequate paternity leave isn't just a nice-to-have. Enabling fathers and partners to spend time with their children in the first year of life has been shown to improve the mental and physical health of mothers, narrow the gender gap and improve educational outcomes for children. Paid leave also helps parents share the responsibilities of childcare more equally, leading to lasting benefits for mothers' careers, health and overall wellbeing.
Despite this, new fathers in the UK are entitled to only two weeks' paternity leave at £187.18 a week or 90% of average weekly earnings– whichever is lower. This is less than half of the national living wage for a standard 35-hour working week.
Read more: How inadequate maternity leave harms mothers' wellbeing
Comparatively, Norway gives fathers 15 weeks of parental leave, paid at more than 90% of the average salary, while parents in Sweden are given 480 days of paid parental leave between them at up to 80% of their salary. In Lithuania, fathers are entitled to 30 days of paid paternity leave, paid at 77.58% of their salary.
So why is paternity leave so poor in Britain – and what will it take for the UK to catch up with the rest of Europe?
"This isn't about our values as a country – this is a problem of political inaction,' says Alex Lloyd Hunter, co-founder of the Dad Shift. 'Ninety per cent of fathers agree that 'dads today want to be a bigger part of their kids' lives,' and 82% of people believe it's better when both parents have equal opportunities to be involved in childcare. Our ideas about parenting have evolved like their countries, but our policies haven't.'
In April, it emerged that the promised 'day one' right to paternity leave would not include the right to statutory pay under Labour's flagship employment rights bill. So for dads to be eligible for paternity pay, they will still need to have worked for the same employer for at least six months up to the 'qualifying week' – 15 weeks before the baby is due. Self-employed fathers are locked out of any kind of financial support entirely.
Harriet Morton-Liddle, co-founder of Nugget Savings, a platform that campaigns for parental leave transparency, says Britain's approach to paternity leave reflects a legacy of outdated assumptions about who should care for children.
'Statutory paternity leave wasn't introduced until 2003 and in the 20 years since there have been no meaningful changes beyond minor tweaks to flexibility,' she says.
'Even the language on the government website reveals how fathers are still viewed. It states that you may be eligible for leave 'because your partner's having a baby' not 'because you're becoming a parent'. That one line captures the problem that fathers are seen as supporting actors, not equal parents.'
So far, broad policy efforts to increase paternal leave uptake, like shared parental leave introduced in 2015, have largely fallen short. When economists at the University of Bath and Cardiff University examined data from 40,000 households across the UK last year, they found shared leave hasn't affected the number of fathers taking leave, nor has it allowed fathers to take longer leave.
International evidence shows that if we want fathers to take on more caregiving responsibilities, they need their own dedicated leave – paid at a level that makes it financially feasible.
In 2022, Finland overhauled its parental leave system, giving each parent an equal share: 160 days of paid leave to be used before the child's second birthday. Since then, the number of fathers taking paternity leave has nearly doubled.
Offering similar in the UK could reform how we take – and think about – parental leave, bringing benefits for all parents, children and even employers. Regardless of what couples want, the current system means mothers are forced to become primary caregivers by default.
'One parent told us, 'we woke up one day and found ourselves in the 1950s',' says Hunter. 'This in turn means many women lose out in their careers or face discrimination at work, with the 'motherhood penalty' now accounting for up to 75% of the gender pay gap.'
Currently, fathers aren't given a fair opportunity to bond with their children during their early years. Instead, they're forced to make an impossible choice between keeping their family afloat financially or being present for them. 'Fathers miss out on precious time bonding with their babies and supporting their partners' recovery from childbirth,' says Dr Jeremy Davies, deputy CEO & head of impact and communications at the Fatherhood Institute.
'Children, mothers and fathers themselves also lose out from lost opportunities for fathers to become skilled and equal caregivers throughout the baby's first year – which is when ongoing caring patterns are set, and father-child relationships built,' he adds. 'This has implications for children's emotional and learning outcomes in the longer term.'
And arguments that adequate paternity leave harms employers simply don't stand up. A 2023 qualitative study suggests offering fathers their own protected, paid leave would benefit their mental health, which in turn would likely boost morale, job satisfaction and retention.
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This is why more employers are introducing their own enhanced paternity leave policies, says Hunter. 'It's good business – the idea that someone can return to work after just two weeks, sleep-deprived and with their life completely turned upside down, and be 100% productive is a complete fantasy,' he explains. 'What happens instead is that fathers struggle in silence, and their mental health often suffers dramatically.'
Read more: How to speak to your boss about a women's health issue
But, with only larger companies financially able to offer enhanced parental leave policies, a two-tier system is emerging. Employees at big firms may benefit from better-paid leave, while those working for smaller employers, or who are self-employed, are left with limited or no support. 'That's why government action is essential to ensure every father gets decent leave, not just those lucky enough to work for progressive employers,' says Hunter.
Whether the structural changes needed to fix the problem are put in place remains to be seen. But right now, paternity leave is treated as an optional extra – not a basic right.
'It is completely out of step with how families live and work today,' says Lucy Kemp, Future of Work and employee experience expert. 'When men are not supported to take time off, it reinforces the idea that childcare is a women's issue. That makes it harder for mothers to return and thrive at work. The best employers are the ones who treat parental leave as a core part of their culture, not a tick-box exercise.'
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