28-05-2025
Dads in Oxfordshire campaign for better paternity leave
New fathers in Oxfordshire say current paternity rights are outdated and need to be changed to support working families.
Currently employees are eligible for up to two weeks statutory paternity leave and statutory pay of just over £187 a week - if they've worked for at least 26 weeks. There's no entitlement for self-employed fathers.
Statutory maternity leave on the the other hand is 52 weeks.
Now campaign group, The Dad Shift, is calling for change. They say they want longer, affordable and equal leave for both parents in every relationship - same sex, heterosexual or adoptive. They also want paternity rights for self-employed people.
Co-founder of The Dad Shift, Alex Lloyd Hunter, from Oxford, said that paternity leave in the UK is a lot shorter than in other counties.
He said: " It's also really poorly paid. It's about 40 per cent of the minimum wage, which is below the poverty line if that was your salary.
"It's not enough for people to live on, so that means you find that about a third of people take no paternity leave at all. About half of those who do, end up in financial hardship as a result, and it has problems short term for families and long term.
"In the short term it means mothers are left with no support while they are still recovering from birth, perhaps if they had a C-section that could take six weeks, and they are left on their own after two, and also when they are most at risk of post-natal depression.
"It also robs fathers and non birthing parents of the time they need to bond with their child. and that has long-term repercussions in terms of how the family parents, in terms of how strong that relationship will be between fathers and their children, and the children, if they have that strong relationship, there's loads of evidence that they'll grow up to be happier, do better at school and will basically be well-rounded people if they have that close relationship with both parents. "
New Dad, Ross Murray from Wallingford, started a new job shortly before his daughter Lydia was born and so he wasn't entitled to statutory paternity leave and pay.
He said: "In my case because I started a new job I wasn't eligible for paid paternity leave. I took two weeks unpaid but for some other people that wouldn't be an option.
"At the moment things aren't equal. So, my wife was entitled to 12 months and I was entitled to two weeks. I would like to be as much of a parent to our daughter as she is able to be, but the policy stops there at the moment."
Many companies offer enhanced paternity benefits and couples have the option of shared parental leave.
A Government spokesperson from the Department for Business and trade said: 'Our Plan for Change is on the side of working parents, which is why we are making Paternity Leave and Unpaid Parental Leave day one rights under the Employment Rights Bill.
'We're also committed to carrying out a review of the parental leave system to ensure it best supports working families.'
The day-one reform will cover leave, but not pay. It's expected to come in in 2026 and the Government said consideration will be given to businesses that might need more time to prepare for change.
Alex Lloyd Hunter said: "It's welcome. There are tens of thousand of people who'll get that time who don't have it now but that leave without pay is not much good because it locks the vast majority of people out.
"It's a positive step but we need the Government to go much further and make paternity leave longer and better paid."
On 11th June The Dad Shift is holding a Dads' Strike. Fathers and non-birthing parents and supporters are invited to join a picket line or simply do the school pick-up to highlight their campaign.
