Only 1 in 5 Fathers Take New Paternity Leave Entitlement

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Mon 26th Jul 2004

Only 1 in 5 fathers (19%) are taking advantage of their new right to paid paternity leave, according to official figures uncovered by Malcolm Bruce MP, Liberal Democrat Shadow Trade and Industry Secretary.

Since April 2003, new fathers have been entitled to claim two weeks' paid paternity leave at a rate of £100 a week or 90% of their weekly wage, whichever is lower. The Government estimated that 400,000 employed fathers would be eligible for paternity leave each year. They budgeted for only 70%

(280,000) taking up the two-week entitlement.

New figures released to Malcolm Bruce MP reveal that only 79,210 fathers (19% of those eligible) have claimed statutory paternity pay in 2003/2004.

Commenting, Malcolm Bruce said:

"The low take-up of paid paternity leave indicates that some men are still influenced by our 'macho' culture. 1950s Britain is clearly still alive and well. The cultural revolution and sexual equality of the 1960s, which the Prime Minister recently derided, seems to have passed many by.

"It may be that men don't want to take time off work to help look after their newborn baby because they're worried what their male colleagues will think. Worse, they may be afraid their boss will hold it against them.

"The right to paid paternity leave will remain an empty victory for fathers as long as cultural norms dictate that duty to their jobs overrides that to their families."