New fathers turning down shared parental leave due to gender pay gap

The UK’s gender pay gap means that new fathers are tending to stay at work, with only one percent of all parents eligible to take shared parental leave opting to do so.

Just 9,200 new parents took advantage of the government’s Shared Parental Leave scheme during the 12 months ending in March this year, according to the law firm EMW.

The scheme allows both new parents to share up to 50 weeks of leave and 37 weeks of statutory pay between them, in place of maternity leave and pay.

Jon Taylor, Principal in the Employment team at EMW, said: “Even accounting for a period of time to bed in the new programme, take up is remarkably low.

“This is a result of cultural factors such as the gender pay gap, and also the simple economics of parents ensuring they are able to pay for new children.”

“Gender pay reporting shows that nationally there is still a significant gap between the pay of women and men.

“So when it comes to deciding which will be sacrificed during maternity leave it often makes economic sense to give up the lower salary, which is often the woman’s.”

The cost of raising a child to the age of 18 for a two-parent family, excluding housing, childcare, and council tax rose to £75,436 last year, according to the Child Poverty Action Group.

According to the group’s research a couple earning the National Living Wage falls 13% short of that.

Taylor says many employers offer enhanced maternity leave and pay schemes, but don’t offer similarly enhanced schemes for shared parental leave.

“Taking maternity leave remains the logical option for many couples,” he said. “New parents still aren’t making the most of Shared Parental Leave, despite the flexibility it can offer.

“Employers may find that being open and approachable about parental leave could help to improve loyalty and retention of talented staff.”

In April data filed by UK companies and public bodies revealed that eight in 10 pay more than women.

The filings revealed that women were being paid a median hourly rate that was, on average, 9.7 percent less than men.