Government must listen to ‘common sense proposals’ on paternity pay and leave, says TUC
Commenting on a new report on fathers in the workplace published by the Women and Equalities Committee today (Tuesday), TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said:
“These are common sense proposals to help working families. Boosting paternity pay to 90% of earnings and extending paid time off to 14 weeks would mean hundreds of thousands more dads could afford to spend time with their new baby. And agency workers and self-employed dads should get the same rights too.
“But it’s disappointing that the proposals still wouldn’t give pregnant women and prospective dads who are agency workers the right to paid time off for antenatal appointments. These check-ups are vital for the health and wellbeing of both mum and baby – people shouldn’t lose pay to go to them.”
- Statutory paternity pay is currently £140.98 a week. Evidence shows that making paternity pay earnings-related is vital to encourage take up – two-thirds (66%) of fathers who didn’t use their full paternity leave entitlement said it was because they couldn’t afford to: http://natcen.ac.uk/media/24607/maternity-paternity-rights-women-2009-10.pdf (p164 table 8.9).
- For more information about the report and the Women’s Equality Committee please visit: www.parliament.uk/womenandequalities
- In September 2017 the TUC published a report about the working lives of young mums and dads. For more details please visit: www.tuc.org.uk/research-analysis/reports/better-jobs-mums-and-dads
- The Trades Union Congress (TUC) exists to make the working world a better place for everyone. We bring together more than 5.5 million working people who make up our 49 member unions. We support unions to grow and thrive, and we stand up for everyone who works for a living.
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