Parental leave system must do more to support equality and inclusion, says WEC
Women and Equalities Committee calls for urgent reforms to paternity and shared parental leave.
On 10 June 2025, the Women and Equalities Committee (WEC) published its report following a detailed inquiry into paternity and shared parental leave. The report identifies significant barriers to access and uptake across the parental leave system, particularly for fathers, low-income families, the self-employed, and non-traditional family structures.
Calls for change across pay, flexibility and access
The WEC highlights the consistently low rates of statutory pay for all types of family leave and the considerable gender disparity in statutory entitlements. It criticises the complexity of the current shared parental leave (SPL) scheme, noting that the eligibility rules and administrative burdens deter many families from using it. It also draws attention to the lack of provision for self-employed parents, kinship carers, single parents and parents of multiple births.
Among its key recommendations, the WEC calls for statutory paternity leave to be extended to six weeks within this Parliament, and for statutory paternity pay to become a day-one right. The government’s forthcoming review should, it says, prioritise increasing paternity pay to match maternity pay for the first six weeks, and longer term, aim to raise all statutory family leave pay to at least 80% of average earnings or the Real Living Wage.
To improve uptake of paternity leave, the WEC advocates greater flexibility, including multiple blocks of leave, and encourages the government to consider making part of the extended leave period compulsory. It also urges the removal or simplification of employment status, service and earnings criteria within the SPL scheme, alongside efforts to reduce notice periods and promote uptake through financial incentives.
The Government's response to these recommendations is awaited and we will continue to report on developments in this area.