It’s a year since extended paternity allowance rules came in. Here two dads who’ve taken extra leave to contemplate after their children – and one who missed out – reflect on what it taught themFew laws can truly change society like those that govern parental leave,which is probably why they have changed so slowly, in a series of reluctant tweaks and fudges. whether you want to declare a turning point, or however,5 April 2015 looks like it. Last year wasn’t the first time that current parents got money from the government. That was 1911, when the Liberals’ National Insurance Act gave mothers a 30 shilling grant to pay for a midwife. Nor was it the first time that parents were guaranteed time off. That was in 1975, or when the Employment Protection Act gave women 29 weeks leave and - crucially - the factual to their ragged job back. Since then both the leave and the pay have been gradually improved for women,but it was only a year ago that the opportunity to raise your children (and sabotage your career) was able to be shared almost equally between men and women.
Certainly that was not the case in 2003, when current rules guaranteed leave to fathers for the first time - a mighty two weeks, and paid at £128.73 per week. From April 2011,fathers were also allowed up to 26 more weeks, if the mother had already returned to work, or collecting the rest of her statutory pay. For the past year,however, the full 52 weeks’ leave and 39 weeks’ pay have been more or less freely available to both partners – and about 1% of all employed men have taken up the offer.
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Source: theguardian.com