Latest news with #paternityLeave
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez placed on paternity list
NEW YORK (AP) — Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez was placed on the paternity list Tuesday before New York opened a three-game series against the Washington Nationals. Luis Torrens was set to start in place of Alvarez, who is batting .255 with two home runs, 10 RBIs and a .676 OPS in 29 games. He was activated April 25 after beginning the season on the injured list with a hamate fracture in his left hand. Advertisement The 23-year-old Alvarez is coming off one of his best games of the year Sunday at Coors Field, where he went 3 for 5 with two RBIs and a 450-foot homer to straightaway center field in a 13-5 victory over the major league-worst Colorado Rockies. Third-string catcher Hayden Senger was recalled from Triple-A Syracuse to fill Alvarez's roster spot. Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said Alvarez was still at the hospital Tuesday afternoon waiting for the birth of his child, so the team wasn't sure when he'll return to the lineup. New York also added right-hander Justin Garza to the bullpen after selecting his contract Monday from Syracuse. Garza was acquired Saturday from the San Francisco Giants for cash. He was looking to make his first major league appearance since July 2023 with Boston against the Mets. Advertisement The 5-foot-10 Garza was 1-2 with a 6.11 ERA and six saves in 19 relief appearances for Triple-A Sacramento this season. He struck out 20 and walked six in 17 2/3 innings. 'Good arm, throws strikes,' Mendoza said. 'Mid-to-upper 90s (mph) fastball. He's got a cutter. Competes. So, I'm interested to watch him pitch.' Left-hander Brandon Waddell was optioned to Syracuse after Sunday's game. New York also signed outfielder Travis Jankowski to a minor league contract and assigned him to Triple-A. A strong defender, Jankowski had a .575 OPS in 21 games combined with the Chicago White Sox and Tampa Bay Rays this season. He played 43 games for the Mets in 2022. New York began the day with the best record in the National League at 42-24. ___ AP MLB: Mike Fitzpatrick, The Associated Press
The Independent
17 hours ago
- Politics
- The Independent
UK leave for new fathers among ‘worst in developed world', MPs say
A House of Commons committee report has warned that the UK has one of the worst statutory leave offers for fathers and other parents in the developed world. The committee is urging the government to amend the Employment Rights Bill to legislate for a day-one right to paid leave, or commit to considering this change within its review. The report recommends raising paternity pay to the level of maternity pay in the first six weeks, which is 90 per cent of average earnings. The committee says the UK's rate of statutory parental pay is out of sync with the cost of living and is far below rates in most comparable countries. The report also says the lack of provision for self-employed fathers is deeply unfair. UK has one of 'worst statutory leave offers for fathers in developed world'
BBC News
a day ago
- Politics
- BBC News
Paternity leave in UK is outdated and unequal, say MPs
The UK's statutory parental leave system is "one of the worst in the developed world" and has "fundamental flaws", a group of cross-party MPs has said.A report published today by the Women and Equalities Committee said paternity leave rules "entrench outdated gender stereotypes". It added that "bold" action is needed, but warned any changes would require significant investment.A Department for Business and Trade spokesperson said the government is carrying out a review to see how it best can support working families. Introduced in 2003, statutory paternity leave allows most new fathers and second parents in the UK to take up to two weeks off applies to all partners, regardless of gender, after the birth, surrogacy or adoption of a eligible receive £187.18 a week or 90% of their average earnings, whichever is works out as less than 50% of the National Living Wage and fathers are ineligible for statutory paternity leave if they are self-employed or earn less than £123 a week. The report says this is "completely out of kilter with the cost of living" and suggests the government should consider increasing paternity pay to 90% or more and paternity leave to six weeks in a phased recommends both aspects should be done during this how paternity leave has not changed noticeably since its introduction more than two decades ago, the report says: "We now have one of the worst statutory leave offers for fathers and other parents in the developed world."In Spain, new dads can take 16 weeks off work at full rules introduced in France in 2021 mean working dads can now spend 28 days at home while being in Sweden are entitled to 480 days of paid parental leave, with 90 days reserved for fathers. As part of Your Voice, Your BBC News we are covering the stories that matter most to you and several dads have been in touch about paternity Yeates, from Haverhill, Suffolk, says it was "horrible" having to return to work just two weeks after his son, Luca, was born in September he says the birth of his son was "the happiest moment of my life", he soon felt as though he was leaving his partner "in the lurch"."There would be times when my partner was struggling and I'd have to leave to go to work," he said."I felt like I was letting her down and letting my son down."James works for the NHS, who topped up his statutory paternity pay to 100% of his usual salary, but feels as though he was prevented from being "a more present parent".The WEC report also looked at shared parental leave, which was introduced in 2014 and allows parents to share up to 50 weeks of leave and up to 37 weeks of pay after the birth or adoption of a the review found many families considered it "unnecessarily complex" and "burdensome".It is used in fewer than 2% of all births and a government review from 2023 suggests almost half (45%) of all dads were not even aware shared parental leave was an report has been released on the eve of the world's first dad of fathers are expected to picket outside the Department for Business and Trade in London on Wednesday to call for an overhaul of the UK's parental leave policies. New research by The Dad Shift and Shaun Davies MP suggests that just 3% of money spent on parental leave in the UK supports fathers and non-birthing provided by employers to HMRC shows that £3.3bn was spent on statutory maternity pay in 2023/ the same period, £69m was spent on paternity pay and £34.4m statutory shared parental Gabriel, co-founder of the Dad Shift, said paternity leave laws mean dads often have to go back to work before their two-week paternity leave ends."The pie is small and the crumbs left for dads and non-birthing parents are honestly pretty pitiful," he Jones, chief executive of the Fatherhood Institute, said she welcomed many of the findings of the report, but said "families shouldn't have to wait until the next Parliament for this to come in".The government said its forthcoming review, which is due before mid-July, would look at all current parental leave entitlements.A spokesperson added it is already in the process of ensuring dads no longer need to be employed for 26 weeks to be entitled to paternity leave."This government is committed to making sure parents receive the best possible support to balance their work and home lives," they said. Additional reporting from George Walker.
The Independent
a day ago
- Politics
- The Independent
UK has one of ‘worst statutory leave offers for fathers in developed world'
The UK has one of the 'worst statutory leave offers for fathers and other parents in the developed world', the chairwoman of the Women and Equalities Committee has warned. In a new report, the House of Commons committee said a maximum of two weeks' paternity leave is 'completely out of step with how most couples want to share their parenting responsibilities' and 'entrenches outdated gender stereotypes about caring'. The committee has urged the Government to either amend the Employment Rights Bill to legislate for a day one right to paid leave or commit to 'considering this vital change within its review' in consultation with employers. It has also called on the Government to consider raising paternity pay to the level of maternity pay in the first six weeks – 90% of average earnings. The paternity and shared parental leave report by the committee said working parents 'will be let down by a review that leads only to tinkering around the edges of the system'. Chairwoman of the Women and Equalities Committee Sarah Owen said the UK's parental leave system was in 'urgent need of an overhaul to fit with the reality of working parents' lives'. The Labour MP for Luton North said reform 'must start with longer and better paid paternity leave'. Ms Owen said: 'It's essential the Government's proposed review addresses the system's fundamental failings, including low statutory pay, inadequate leave periods for fathers and others, exclusion of many working parents and guardians, plus design flaws and unnecessary complexity in the Shared Parental Leave scheme. 'The UK's parental leave system has fallen far behind most comparable countries, and we now have one of the worst statutory leave offers for fathers and other parents in the developed world.' The Labour MP added: 'Ministers must commit to meaningful reforms in the medium-term, with a view to going further towards a more gender equal parental leave system. 'Tinkering around the edges of a broken system will let down working parents. While much-needed substantial change to our paid parental leave system will require considerable financial investment, this would be outweighed by wider societal and economic benefits.' The report states that the UK's rate of statutory parental pay is 'completely out of kilter with the cost of living, has not kept pace with inflation and is far below rates in most comparable countries'. It recommends phased introduction of increases to statutory pay across the system to bring rates for all working parents up to 80% or more of average earnings or the real Living Wage. The lack of provision for self-employed fathers is 'deeply unfair', the report adds. The committee recommends that the Government consider options for providing statutory paid leave for all self-employed working fathers as part of its review of the parental leave system, including introducing a paternity allowance for self-employed fathers and other parents, similar to maternity allowance. The report states that the shared parental leave system is 'extremely difficult for most parents and their employers to understand'. It said a forthcoming review must examine the function and necessity of eligibility rules, with a view to 'simplifying or removing the employment status, time in service and earnings criteria'. The committee said the review should examine approaches taken in overseas systems, including the German 'partnership bonus' and Portugal's 'sharing bonus', which provide additional paid leave to couples in which both parents take a substantial portion of leave while the other returns to paid work.
Telegraph
22-05-2025
- Health
- Telegraph
‘I was failing at work and at home': how UK paternity leave is leaving fathers struggling
After the birth of his youngest son in 2018, the Prince of Wales took two weeks' paternity leave – the UK's statutory allowance for fathers, which remains the worst in Europe. But this could be set to change. Thanks to ardent campaigning from the Princess of Wales, an increasing number of Britain's businesses are coming round to the need for equal parental leave. As a direct result of her efforts, Deloitte now offers dads six months off work at full pay – a move it is hoped other companies will emulate. For many fathers, these changes can't come soon enough. Last week, figures from parent campaign group The Dad Shift and men's health charity Movember showed that 45pc of fathers experience at least two symptoms of clinical anxiety or depression in the first year of their child's life – more than four times higher than previous estimates. The poll also found that almost one in 15 new dads had felt suicidal during their inaugural year of fatherhood, while one in 12 had experienced frightening thoughts of deliberately harming their child. Campaigners say that there is an obvious solution: improving paternity leave. This, they say, would help fathers to assuage the emotional, physical and financial turmoil that often follows the birth of a child. Better paternity leave would have made all the difference to Dan Brown, an engineer who spent just three days of his two weeks' leave at home with his newborn. After his partner spent 48 hours in labour, she underwent an emergency C-section, leaving her 'in an enormous amount of pain and not able to move by herself,' he says. It also meant spending several more nights in hospital. The family were sent home, only to be readmitted days later because their daughter was not putting on enough weight. 'It was crazy,' Brown, 37, says of that period. He had saved up annual leave with the idea of using a week or two once his statutory fortnight had ended. But when he raised this with the manager of the firm he'd been with for five years, he was told: 'You need to come back to work.' Instead of revelling in the joy of becoming a first-time father, caring for his partner and a newborn while running on one or two hours' sleep a night resulted in 'a horrible period of my life and my partner's life, to be honest'. She developed postnatal depression from the strain. Brown ultimately developed it too. 'This huge thing's happened and you want to be there to support [your loved ones], but the reality is your employer drags you back… I don't think it was in the best interest of me or my employer,' he says. 'I would hate to think of the quality of the work they got out of me during that time.' The tug of war left him feeling completely run down. 'I was failing at work, I was failing at home. When I look back now, all I can think is that the whole thing was utterly pointless.' The Dad Shift's campaign highlights both the emotional and financial impact of statutory leave, which is paid at a maximum of £187.18 per week – less than half of minimum wage. Fathers on the average UK wage typically lose more than £1,000 in pay during the designated fortnight – a significant hit given the cost of raising a child is now around £12,400 per year. This financial hardship is increasingly harming parents' health. PwC analysis suggests that better leave policies could prevent half a million cases of perinatal depression over the next two decades, and save the NHS £1.4bn. Last month, the Government launched a call for evidence for England's first ever men's health strategy. Notoriously reticent in seeking help, the concern is that men will continue to suffer in silence as paternity pressures mount. According to The Dad Shift and Movember poll, just 6pc of new fathers experiencing multiple symptoms of depression sought or received treatment from the NHS. 'A financial black hole' Tom Windle was among the many fathers who felt unable to seek help. 'I became a shell of myself,' says the 30-year-old when looking back at the time of the birth of his first son, who arrived five weeks early in 2018. As a self-employed landscaper, he had planned to take two weeks out of work to look after his child. But his wife's recovery from an emergency C-section – a procedure now undergone by more than one in 10 mothers in England – required him to spend two months at home, not earning. She developed postnatal depression, as did he. 'We suffered massively financially because we were not prepared for any of that time off'. His boss allowed him two weeks of unpaid leave, during which time he began falling behind on bills and payments, and racking up debt on credit. 'It's almost like a black hole that started when our first child was born, that then sucked everything into it.' Eighteen months ago, with almost £50,000 of repayment costs feeling insurmountable, he tried to take his life. 'It was a hard burden to carry, to be honest.' The constant anxiety over money and pressure to return to earning as soon as possible also affected his relationship with his seven-year-old and second child, now three, Windle says. To his mind, working meant that 'every day I'd wake up and I'd abandon them. And then it's all the little things as a parent that you appreciate, like the cuddles and the kisses and the empathy and the emotions that children show towards you – I was lacking all of that because I was never really there. 'I was practically a stranger in my own house, just because of this constant fight to try and get back on top of finances.' 'It's just wrong' It is only in the past couple of months that he has finally got out of the debt that has plagued his family for the past seven years – and Windle is angry that, without fundamental changes to the system, other fathers will end up falling into the same dark hole. 'If minimum wage is deemed to be the minimum you can live off, how are you expected to live with less than half that for two weeks while trying to look after a newborn? Where's the sense in it?' he asks. Brown, too, laments the shortsightedness of companies with stringent paternity leave policies. He says he 'switched off' from the moment his employers were unsupportive in his time of need, and ultimately left the firm. Given that a single salary is often no longer enough to cover the costs of raising a family – the UK is the third most expensive country to do so, according to the OECD – both private and public policies have failed to keep up with modern families' needs. While a series of governments in the UK have repeatedly called for a revocation of our falling birth rates, those who have started a family remain perturbed by the lack of support – and potential damage – this may now wreak. 'There's no two ways about it; it's just wrong,' Windle says of the UK's paltry financial offering for new fathers. 'As far as I'm concerned, the more people who realise it's wrong, hopefully the more likely we are to drive some sort of change, and help other people from falling into the same situation I did.'
