Paternity leave system needs to change - we just need to know how

On Wednesday, June 11th, Dads are being encouraged to picket the Scottish Parliament "to speak out against the UK's shockingly bad paternity leave."

The Dad Shift group notes the UK "has the worst paternity leave in Europe. Two weeks at less than minimum wage is not enough."

Few would disagree on this point, generally. However, an evolving policy argument must catch up with societal expectations, present legislation, and ambitions.

For starters, paternity is a relatively new phenomenon. Statutory paid paternity leave was introduced in the UK in 2003. This meant fathers became eligible for a minimum of two weeks' paid leave upon the birth of their child. Before this, fathers had only been entitled to unpaid parental leave. The first official introduction of paternity leave was in 1999 with the Maternity and Parental Leave Regulations. Secondly, in those 20 years, the expectation of what fathers do has transformed and banished the myth of the distant, well-meaning, but ultimately elective role of dads. They are now expected to run parallel with mums but are castigated as conceited egomaniacs if we suggest out loud that statutory entitlement should reflect that.

Fathers are either sexists for saying we are as important as mothers or misogynistic for stating that mums are biologically more necessary (particularly in the first months of a baby's life). There is even a bizarre subset of 'trad' dads online advocating for a return to the historic gender divisions, traditional values, and disciplinary approaches to raising children. There's also a coterie of reactionaries wanting less time with their children.

Among that debate is the slew of exhausting jokes about 'daddy daycare'. Fathers are still seen as inherently incompetent next to mothers. Perhaps in reactionary response, nothing is as vicious as fathers passively trying to one-up each other about who can do the most and get the most time with their child. Support WhatsApp groups and social media are replete with sanctimonious and grandstanding accounts of 'dadding'.

The policy landscape is decidedly simpler than the rabbit hole of differing opinions among dads about what they can or should bring to the parenting table. This is far from a united front of men demanding their slice of statutory cake. If a policy shift is going to take place, then there needs to be a massive tonal and societal change in how we view and understand fathers' contributions and when they matter most.

God is in the details. Fathers are entitled to up to a fortnight of statutory paternity leave, which can be taken as one continuous two-week block or two separate one-week blocks. Statutory Paternity Pay for eligible employees is either £187.18 a week or 90 per cent of their average weekly earnings (whichever is lower). Mothers on maternity leave receive 90 per cent of their average weekly earnings for the first six weeks, then £187.18 for 33 weeks.

When my son was born, I took two weeks of annual leave and saved my statutory leave as part of a month-long transition for my wife's return to work. It feels taboo to note that my role was significantly less relevant in those first months than what I dub the 'junction point' for my wife returning from maternity leave, particularly when factoring in childcare and how our son would fare.

The transition phase we have just moved through was wrought with challenges, anticipated and not so predictable. In conjunction with more annual leave, my recent 'formal' paternity leave made for a month in which I was more directly involved, relevant, and essential than those first ones.

The picket in Edinburgh—and a concurrent one at Westminster—is meaningless without a coordinated clarification of what policy change is being demanded. It's a fundamental stepping stone to clearly establish what dads want to see to enact real change while navigating the politics of devolution and taking advantage of the forthcoming Scottish general election next year.

After all, paternity leave, along with maternity leave and pay, is a reserved matter and the responsibility of the UK Parliament. This means that the statutory entitlements to paternity leave and pay are the same across the UK, including Scotland. A coordinated public affairs strategy to secure cross-party support, create an obtainable and realistic list of policy asks and keep ambitions in check is critical to achieving sustained change.

Paternity leave can be taken within 52 weeks of the baby's birth, but not before the birth. Employees can take leave any time during this period, but it must end within the 52-week timeframe. Is there scope, for example, to extend this timeframe, given that mothers are still expected to drop everything to tend to a sick child, collect kids from nursery and school, and serve as primary caregivers? Could we give parents a statutory package of 100 per cent full-time pay and several months' leave that can be utilised within the first five years of a child's life

Advocacy groups should not box themselves in, but they should be realistic.

In a Westminster debate last year on Paternity Leave and Pay, Labour MP Shaun Davies called paternity leave a "segregated system." Others who contributed added that the present arrangement is inherently disadvantageous to the self-employed, "classist", and counterproductive to keeping mums in the workplace and increasing uptake by dads.

Everyone seems to agree that something needs to be changed, but it is deceptive to presume we all know what. Dads and organisers like The Dad Shift have an enormous challenge ahead of them, but change is, without question, an overdue delivery.