New paternity leave rules are due to be enforceable from next month, allowing a little more flexibility for new fathers and a minor pay rise, the government announces.
The upcoming changes mean that new dads can use their statutory two-weeks of leave separately in one week blocks, rather than being forced to have it as two consecutive weeks, as well as receiving an extra £13 per week.
The changes have been criticised, however, as despite the adjustments, rights campaigners say that there is still a lot more to be done to assist new fathers in the initial stages of their baby’s life.
As it stands, the UK has worst paternity leave entitlement in Europe, with just just two weeks leave and £172 a week statutory pay – which works out at less than half the national living wage.
This update, which will apply to fathers of children born after the 6th of April 2024, will result in a total weekly pay increase of £13, to £185.03 pr week.
Some new dads have branded these changes as ‘pointless’, as the amount awarded makes it unaffordable for many fathers to take the pay cut for those two weeks, meaning that they would miss out anyway.
Parenting charity Pregnant Then Screwed (PTS), found that in 2024,of over 500 new/second time fathers who didn’t take their two weeks’ paternity or parental leave allowance, 70% of those said they could not afford to do so.
A similar survey, conducted in 2023, revealed that 43% said they could not take their full parental leave entitlement due to worries about the shortfall in income.
As an additional note, self-employed fathers are ineligible for paternity leave, and the same applies to those who earn less than £123 a week or have not had 26 weeks of continual employment from the same company.
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