Fathers urged to take 10 month paternity leave

The coalition government will outline proposals intended to encourage more fathers to take parental leave.



Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg is believed to argue that the current "Edwardian" rules "patronise women and marginalise men."

Under the proposed legislation, mothers and father could take up to five months off work together, while men may receive an extra allowance on a "use-it-or-lose-it" basis as an incentive.



While parenting experts welcome the plan, many business groups have warned that such legislation on seriously damage small firms.

Clegg, who has three young sons, will outline the reforms at the launch of a government-sponsored report into family policy from the think-tank Demos.



Currently, men are entitled to take two weeks off after the birth of a child. but reforms to come into force from April will allow fathers to take up to six months of any unused maternity leave after mothers return to work.

Clegg will argue that this change, drawn up by Labour, is welcome but does not go far enough.



"More and more fathers want to play a hands-on role with their young children but too many feel that they can't," he will say. "It's madness that we are denying them that chance."



Parents often want more flexibility over how they can take time off work after the birth of a child and Clegg will promise "a new, properly flexible system of shared parental leave," according to a report in The Telegraph.



Under the proposals, all mothers would still be guaranteed the first six weeks off after birth, paid at 90 percent of their pay, while fathers would retain their existing two weeks’ paternity leave.



But the remaining parental leave, likely to be 46 weeks, should be shared between parents "in a whole range of ways", or divided up as couples see fit, according to Clegg.



"Both parents could, say, be off at the same time if they wanted to be, and leave could - in agreement with employers - be taken in a number of chunks rather than a single block.



Blocks of time off for fathers are an established part of family policy in Denmark, Norway and Sweden. In "an ideal world", such dedicated time off for fathers would be in addition to the current total allowance for parents, but Clegg acknowledged that this would be expensive and may prove unaffordable.



The Coalition aims to introduce the reforms in 2015 after extensive consultation with businesses, although Clegg wanted to change the system sooner.



Adrienne Burgess, from the Fatherhood Institute, said dedicated time off for fathers in "use it or lose it" blocks could transform family life in the UK. "It is great to see Nick Clegg thinking about fathers," she said.



However, employers’ groups criticised the proposals. Andrew Cave, from the Federation of Small Businesses, called for an exemption from the rules for small firms.



"Measures like these will make it more difficult for businesses to function and actually make it less likely that they will be able to employ additional staff," he said.



"It shows a complete lack of understanding of how small businesses operate and the pressures that are placed on employers with the existing maternity rules.



"When you lose someone on maternity leave at the moment you could lose a quarter of your workforce. This doubles the risk."