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New analysis published by the TUC today (Saturday) ahead of Fathers’ Day tomorrow (Sunday) reveals that one in five new fathers didn’t qualify for paternity pay.

There are nearly 600,000 working dads around the UK who have had a child in the past 12 months. However, around a fifth (22%) of them – more than 131,000 working dads – did not qualify for two weeks’ statutory paternity pay.

18 June 2016

New analysis published by the TUC today (Saturday) ahead of Fathers’ Day tomorrow (Sunday) reveals that one in five new fathers didn’t qualify for paternity pay.

There are nearly 600,000 working dads around the UK who have had a child in the past 12 months. However, around a fifth (22%) of them – more than 131,000 working dads – did not qualify for two weeks’ statutory paternity pay.

The main reason is that they were self-employed – this affected nearly 99,000 working dads.

More than 32,000 dads didn’t get paid paternity leave because they hadn’t been working for their companies long enough. This is because the law requires employees to have at least six months’ service with their current employer by the 15th week before the baby is due to qualify for paternity leave.

The TUC is concerned that so many dads are missing out on the chance to spend valuable time at home with their partners and babies, and fears many more fathers do not take paternity leave because they cannot afford to.

Some fathers benefit from fully-paid paternity leave from their employer, in particular those who are higher-paid and in professional jobs. However many, especially those at the lower end of the income scale, struggle to afford to take the time off because statutory paternity pay is just £139.58 a week.

This is around half what someone earning the minimum wage would earn over a 35-hour week (£252) and less than a quarter of male full-time median weekly earnings (£567.20).

The TUC says a good gift for fathers tomorrow would be for the government to introduce a paternity allowance for dads who are not eligible for statutory paternity pay. This would be similar to the maternity allowance which self-employed mothers and mothers who haven’t been with their employers long enough can claim.

The TUC also believes that employees should be entitled to statutory paternity leave from their first day in the job, in the same way that maternity leave is a day one right, and that paternity pay should be increased.

TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: “All fathers should be able to spend time with their families when a new baby comes along.

“Paid paternity leave and shared parental leave have been important steps forward, but many families are missing out on these benefits – or simply can’t afford to use them.

“When fathers share caring responsibilities it helps strengthen relationships, improve child well-being and makes it easier for mothers to continue their careers. We’d like to see all dads being given a right to longer, better-paid leave when a child is born.

“I would urge all parents and parents-to-be to join a union to make sure their interests are represented and their voices heard at work.”

NOTES TO EDITORS:

- Working fathers with a child under one:

Fathers with a child under one who are self-employed

98,959

Employee fathers with a child under one with less than 6 months service in current job

32,237

Total number of fathers ineligible for paternity pay

131,196

Total number of fathers in paid work with a child under 1

595,428

Source: Labour Force Survey, October to December 2015.

- Earnings: Source for male full-time median weekly employee earnings is from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE).

- Self-employment: The TUC also fears that more dads will miss out on time with their newborns as self-employment is increasing rapidly. Self-employment has risen by 21% since pre-recession levels and now stands at 4.7 million, accounting for one in five (19%) of men’s jobs.

- Statutory paternity pay: The coalition government changed the way that statutory paternity pay was uplifted each year in 2011 and it capped rises at 1% in 2013 and 2014. If paternity pay had continued to increase in line with inflation, as measured by the RPI, it would be worth £150.60 a week today. Plus mothers who are eligible for statutory maternity pay get the first six weeks paid at 90% of their normal earnings before moving onto the low flat rate of £139.58 a week for the rest of their leave.   

- Paternity leave: The TUC has called for fathers to have a right to six weeks, well-paid leave.

- Union advantage: A government survey found that fathers in unionised workplaces get better access to family leave arrangements: “Fathers who worked in a workplace that had no recognised trades union were more likely to report having no access to family leave arrangements (22%), compared with ten per cent of fathers working in an organisation with a trades union. The latter group was also more likely to have access to three or more family leave arrangement.” (DWP/BIS Maternity and Paternity Rights and Women Returners Survey 2009/10).

- Take-up of paternity leave: The DWP/BIS Maternity and Paternity Rights and Women Returners Survey 2009/10 found that only half of fathers took their full two-week entitlement to paternity leave and the most common reason for not using it was they could not afford to. It also found two in five high-paid fathers in professional and managerial jobs got full pay from their employer but only one in five of the lowest-paid fathers did.

- The TUC’s Leave and pay for fathers and partners leaflet is available at www.tuc.org.uk/sites/default/files/TUC%20KYR_Paternity_LO%20%28spreads%29.pdf

 - All TUC press releases can be found at www.tuc.org.uk

- Follow the TUC on Twitter: @The_TUC and follow the TUC press team @tucnews

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