‘Lost decade’ of progress after UK introduced shared parental leave, say experts | Maternity & paternity rights

Experts have criticized the “lost decade” of progress on parental rights after Guardian research suggested less than one in 60 public sector workers share leave with their partner when they have a baby.

Ten years after the introduction of shared parental leave in the UK, the policy’s architects say it has failed to deliver on its promise: “culture change” and called for the bold measures needed to allow more men, including those on middle and low incomes, to spend time with their babies.

New data obtained by the Guardian reveals that just one in 64 requests for parental leave at four of the UK’s largest public sector employers in the last five years was for shared parental leave, which entitles parents to split up to 52 weeks of leave, including up to 39 weeks of statutory shared parental pay.

Freedom of information requests made by the Guardian show that just 1.55% of parental leave requests made to these employers in the last five years were for shared parental leave (SPL).

Of 274,755 requests for parental leave between 2020 and 2025 across NHS England, Scotland and Wales, HMRC, the Ministry of Justice and the Department for Work and Pensions, just 4,264 were for SPL.

Former Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson, who introduced the 2015 policy in the House of Commons when she was employment relations minister, said the low take-up of shared parental leave in public institutions was “disappointing” and blamed successive Tory governments.

“This is a policy that has certainly not lived up to its potential, partly because it doesn’t have the support, energy and encouragement of a government that believes in it,” Swinson said.

Campaigners and policy makers have long argued that the shared parental leave policy has failed, with a major study conducted at the University of Bath last year. politics “fell”. Neither the number of paternity leave nor the length of leave taken has increased since its introduction, the researchers said. 2023 of the last Conservative government Evaluation of SPL found that only 1% of eligible mothers and 5% of eligible fathers used it.

A growing body of evidence also suggests that shared parental leave has become the preserve of high earners, concentrated in the south-east of England. Analysis of HMRC data by campaign group Dad Shift reveals 95% of shared parental leave in 2024-25 is claimed by fathers in the top half of UK earners, earning more than the average annual salary of £37,800.

HMRC data It reveals a consistent decline in the SPL’s share going to the bottom 50% of income earners almost every year since its creation. While in 2015 approximately one in 10 shared parental leave was taken by average or low-paid fathers, this figure is now closer to one in 20.

“After a lost decade, it’s clear that shared parental leave works well for a handful of wealthy families in the southeast, but doesn’t work for the majority of working dads and non-birthing parents,” said George Gabriel, co-founder of Dad Shift.

“Over the past decade, who gets to spend time with their new babies has become a clear class issue; while regular men are priced out for those first weeks and months with their babies, there is a mountain of evidence to show that proper paternity leave is good not just for dads, but for mothers and babies too.”

government Launch of 18-month review Overhaul of the UK parental leave system in July “turning point momentby the House of Commons women and equalities select committee”, but MPs warned that “fixing the edges of a broken system will disappoint working parents”.

Employment Rights Minister Kate Dearden acknowledged that the current “parental leave system needs to be improved” and highlighted the review and measures to make paternity leave a day one right in workers’ rights legislation. “No parent should feel like they can’t spend meaningful time with their children, and supporting them to do this is so important,” she said.

Swinson said the main problem with the current policy was that women were required to “give up” some of their maternity leave and fathers had limited time to spend with their children, and called on the government to introduce “take it or leave it” work permits for fathers.

“The government must be brave,” he said. “Let’s not make a gradual change. Let’s acknowledge that this hasn’t progressed for 10 years, we need a leap forward at this point.”

Baroness JoJo Penn, who worked with Theresa May on introducing the policy from 2010. Change to Labour’s flagship workers’ rights bill He, who wants to increase statutory paternity leave from two weeks to six weeks at 90% of father’s salary, said: “Ten years on, it is clear that shared parental leave has not achieved its original objectives. Around half a million new parents each year should not have to wait for both parents to access appropriate leave when they have a baby.”

“The case for change is huge and I worry that we now have another year for the government to review, but at the end of this we won’t get real change,” he said.