How Minimum Paternity Leave Policies Undermine Families and Workforce Stability

Valentine's Day is about celebrating love. But this year we need to talk about how the UK's paternity leave is destroying it.

These days, most couples want to parent equally. But the UK's paternity leave - the worst in Europe at two weeks on less than half the minimum wage*, or nothing if you’re self employed - makes that impossible for many families.

And that can be devastating for their relationship.

In fact, The Dad Shift and Movember's new research shows 59% of parents with young kids say bad paternity leave makes it harder to share childcare equally, not just at the beginning, but long-term too.

And heartbreakingly, 40% of separated parents say this inequality was a factor in their breakup. That’s nearly a million families.

Brutal stats.

So last week I joined hundreds of people across the country in putting these cards in local card shops to call for longer, better paid paternity leave.

Join the campaign here: dadshift.org.uk/

In the UK, minimum paternity leave is framed as a legal safeguard — but in practice it is a structural threat to workforce stability.

Two weeks of leave, paid at a fraction of normal earnings* , forces fathers back to work precisely when families are most vulnerable and routines least stable.

For employers, this isn’t only a social issue; it’s an operational one.

Sleep deprivation, emotional strain and gendered caring responsibilities don’t just stay at home — they show up as reduced performance, higher absence, disengagement and gender inequality.

Statutory paternity leave, especially when paired with generous maternity leave, creates workplace inequalities that limit caregiving choice within relationships and impose assumptions and constraints on mothers’ participation in the workplace. We call this the Motherhood Penalty.

‘Motherhood penalty’ costs women an average £65,618 in pay by time first child turns five

When UK businesses rely on statutory minimum they bake in instability and gender inequalities into their talent system.

Supporting new dads is the route to gender equality….

Improving statutory paternity leave would not only create a step change how fatherhood is seen in society but also increase opportunities to share care and improve mental health and relationship quality.

Extended, well paid paternity leave isn’t the only important part of supporting new parents. Take our free, 2 minute quiz and discover how your business’s support measures up.

* Did you know that a man on average earnings loses over £1,000 if they take 2 weeks of statutory leave?