How the departure of paternity in the UK is compared to the rest of Europe

Becoming a new dad can be significantly influenced by the amount of paternity leave available to fathers and Report published this week He suggests that the British dads do poorly compared to what is offered elsewhere in Europe.

BBC News talks to dads in different countries about how long they can take off work after the birth of their children – and how it changed paternity for them.

When Jamie Kiara’s daughter was born three years ago, he says it was “incredibly difficult”.

“I had to watch my partner fight for watching her child,” Jamie says. “The biggest thing I remember was crying. My daughter obviously needed support, and my wife was noticeably struggling and exhausted.”

A few weeks after Kiara was born, Jamie’s mother -in -law flew from Zimbabwe to support the family because Jamie is only entitled to legal paternity leave.

Rules in the UK Allow the new fathers and second parents to take a full time to take up to two weeks of rest. This applies to all partners, regardless of gender, after birth, surrogacy or adoption of a baby, but not those who are self-employed or dads who earn less than £ 123 a week.

Those who meet the requirements receive 187,18 British pounds per week, or 90% of their average profit, which is a smaller one. This works as less than half of the national salary for life.

Jamie from Ashford in Kent says the statutory pay is “frank pennies”.

He and his partner are now expecting their second child, in August – something they began to save before before Jamie’s wife did not even become pregnant.

Jamie says his “powerlessness” for his father’s pay made him attend the world’s first “dad strike” earlier this week, when fathers from all over the country protested outside the Government Department of Business and Trade in Westminster.

“Seeing things to change relatively recently in other countries … Why aren’t we up to date?” Jamie says.

For Octavio, spending four months at home with her daughter Alicia made a “huge difference”.

He divided the release of his paternity into two parts – six weeks – which was a must – immediately after Alicia was born and the remaining 10 weeks when his wife returned to work.

“The extended quality time with Alicia allowed us to develop a strong relationship that I think would not be formed so deeply otherwise,” says Octavio, a computer engineer from Seville.

In the last few years, Spain has increased the time spent on new fathers. In 2019, the dads were entitled to five weeks of rest. But since 2021, this has been extended to 16 weeks at full pay, including those who are self -employed. There is no pay limit on salary. This means that parental leave is already equal to mothers and dads in Spain.

“These changes really made a significant difference,” Octavio says.

France also has made progressive steps in paternity leave in recent years.

Antoine is an architect who lives on the outskirts of Paris and has taken advantage of the changes. When his son Tibo was born five years ago, Antoine, who works full -time, is entitled to two weeks of paternity leave.

But in September 2020, paternity leave in France doubled, which means that Antoine received four weeks of rest when his second child was born in 2023.

“It allowed me to support my wife and my children,” he says. “Fathers should be left to be more consistent during these periods of family life, which enrich all relationships and allow them to fully take their place as parents full-time.”

The rules for the granting of French paternity mean that Dads – including those who are self -employed – should take a day off right after their child is born. The payment is covered by the employer for the first three days, but is then funded by the state.

The remaining 21 days, which can be divided into two pieces, are optional and can be taken at any time within the next six months. The pay is limited to EUR 3.428 (2,921 British pounds) per month.

Andre, who was born in Portugal and spent nine years living in England, says that the prominent role played by Daddy in Denmark is one of the first things he noticed when he moved there.

“You see dads walk with their children and young babies,” Andre says. “I was like,” Aunt, I’m not used to it. “

Dads in Denmark, including those who are self -employed, can take up to 24 weeks of rest with full fee from the state.

After eleven weeks, the other 13 can be transferred to the birth partner if they want, so they can use them as an additional maternity leave. One parents can postpone up to 13 weeks of parent until their child is nine years old.

Andre decided to divide his parental leave – taking two weeks as soon as his baby Miro was born and saved the other 11 weeks – so he could take care of his nine -month son when his partner returned to work.

“In Denmark, the partner is expected to be more consistent,” Andre says. “Not only do you contact your child, but you want to develop your family as a whole together.”

Full -time dads in Poland are entitled to two weeks of paternity leave. But unlike the United Kingdom, the salary is paid 100%, which Camille says is “great”.

Shortly after her daughter’s first birthday, Mariana, Camille took no more weeks of transferred parental leave, which should be taken in the first year. This is available to both parents as long as they are hired, and is paid 70% of the full -time salary.

“For many families, 70% nine weeks are very low,” Camille says, “but … when I took the vacation, my wife started to return to work. I won 30% less, but she started winning more, so it was useful for our family.”

Camille says these extra nine weeks relieved a lot of “stress” when his wife went back to work after a year of maternity vacation.

“I was confident,” Camille says. “I felt I was doing a good job – and my daughter felt good with me.”

Matthias of Stockholm says that the comfort of his three-month son is “the best feeling I’ve ever experienced.”

Matthias is able to take advantage of one of the most willful paternity granting policies in the world. Parents in Sweden, including those who are self -employed, can share up to 480 days’ leave for parents, with 90 days being preserved specifically for each parent.

The rest time for Dad for the first time was presented in Sweden in 1995, with the introduction of “Month Dad” – 30 days for fathers only. This use model-or-loss increased to 60 days in 2002 and 90 days in 2016.

The first 390 days for each parent is paid to 80% of the government, to a monthly salaries cap of 47 750 SEK (3.590 British pounds). Then there is a daily legal compensation for SEK180 (£ 14).

Matthias took six weeks of rest when Otto was born and would use nine months of parental leave from November.

“We can share the load at the beginning when everything was new,” Matthias says. “These six weeks allowed us to be parents together – this made a huge change.”

Some companies, both in the UK and abroad, pay from their own pocket for improved paternity policies beyond the legal minimum. But studies of 2023 show that only 12% of low -income householders have had access to their full right to parental leave and pay.

Alex Lloyd-Hunter, co-founder of Dad Shift, says that “money is the biggest barrier for dads who take time to work and wants the government to finance better paternity leave for all dads.

A report published this week by the Committee on Women and Equal (WEC) said that the legal pay in the UK was “completely outside the Kilter with the costs of life”. He suggested that the government should consider increasing the pay of paternity to 90% or more, and paternity is up to six weeks in a gradual approach.

The report also examined the shared parental leave introduced in 2014, which allows parents to share up to 50 weeks of leave and up to 37 weeks pay after birth or adoption of a child. The review found that many families consider it “unnecessarily complicated”. It is used at less than 2% of all births and a report of 2023. It suggests that almost half (45%) of dads were not even aware that shared parental leave was an option.

“We know that the parental leave system needs to be improved,” said a spokesman for the Ministry of Business and Trade, adding that the government will review maternity leave, paternity leave and shared parental leave.

They also stated changes that mean that the dads will soon no longer have to be hired by a company for 26 weeks in order to be entitled to legitimate paternity leave.