[UK] Shared Parental Leave used by less than 2% of eligible couples

New research has revealed that less than two per cent of couples eligible for the Shared Parental Leave (SPL) scheme actually use it and uptake has fallen 17 per cent in the past year, City A.M. reports.

SPL has been struggling to get off the ground since its 2016 launch and take-up of the scheme has fluctuated between one per cent and two per cent every year.

The scheme offers new parents the opportunity to both share up to 50 weeks of leave and 37 weeks of statutory pay between them. The current rate of pay is £151.20 per week; half the UK minimum wage for full-time employees.

Commercial law firm EMW explained that many qualifying parents are understandably reluctant for the primary earner to temporarily stop working and see their income drop to just over £600 per month. In turn, this reluctance reinforces the gender pay gap and lack of work-life balance for mothers and fathers, perpetuating a culture where the breadwinner is forced back to work and traditional gender norms are reinforced.

Jon Taylor - Principal at EMW - said the £150 a week rate is “unfeasible” for most parents and said, “Increasing the amount offered to new parents under the scheme would assist new mothers, who are often the ones to take most of the childcare responsibilities. Shared parental leave could more equally share out these responsibilities and reduce the impact of maternity leave on a woman’s career.”

One solution could be a pay rate hike, which may incentivise couples to use the scheme and in this way move towards eliminating the gender pay gap by enabling fathers to take on greater childcare responsibilities.

Source: City A.M.

(Quote via original reporting)

New research has revealed that less than two per cent of couples eligible for the Shared Parental Leave (SPL) scheme actually use it and uptake has fallen 17 per cent in the past year, City A.M. reports.

SPL has been struggling to get off the ground since its 2016 launch and take-up of the scheme has fluctuated between one per cent and two per cent every year.

The scheme offers new parents the opportunity to both share up to 50 weeks of leave and 37 weeks of statutory pay between them. The current rate of pay is £151.20 per week; half the UK minimum wage for full-time employees.

Commercial law firm EMW explained that many qualifying parents are understandably reluctant for the primary earner to temporarily stop working and see their income drop to just over £600 per month. In turn, this reluctance reinforces the gender pay gap and lack of work-life balance for mothers and fathers, perpetuating a culture where the breadwinner is forced back to work and traditional gender norms are reinforced.

Jon Taylor - Principal at EMW - said the £150 a week rate is “unfeasible” for most parents and said, “Increasing the amount offered to new parents under the scheme would assist new mothers, who are often the ones to take most of the childcare responsibilities. Shared parental leave could more equally share out these responsibilities and reduce the impact of maternity leave on a woman’s career.”

One solution could be a pay rate hike, which may incentivise couples to use the scheme and in this way move towards eliminating the gender pay gap by enabling fathers to take on greater childcare responsibilities.

Source: City A.M.

(Quote via original reporting)