Category Archives: Parental rights

More bad dad dancing?

Posted on July 3, 2023 by wonkypolicywonk

Maybe the Department for Business & Trade missed the memo about Father’s Day always being celebrated on the third Sunday in June, but they waited until 29 June to publish their response to the consultation on reform of parental leave … Continue reading →

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Policy in the lurch: parental leave reform

Posted on June 16, 2023 by wonkypolicywonk

Earlier this week on this blog, I noted the traditional attempts by policy wonks to exploit the commercial confection that is Father’s Day to call for reform of statutory paternity leave, including a new joint report by the think tank … Continue reading →

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Dad dancing: reform of parental leave

Posted on June 12, 2023 by wonkypolicywonk

Father’s Day is approaching, so naturally paternity leave is back in the news – or, at least, back in the Independent newspaper – thanks to a “damning” new TUC survey finding that “the low level of statutory paternity pay stops … Continue reading →

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Take-up of statutory paid paternity leave: the Daddy of all bogus statistics

Posted on October 10, 2022 by wonkypolicywonk

“Only a third of eligible fathers taking paternity leave” (People Management) “Just a third of eligible fathers take paternity leave” (HR News) “Only one in three fathers take paternity leave, research suggests” (Daily Mail) “Just a third of eligible new … Continue reading →

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Maternity leave: Lies, damn lies and statements by BEIS minister Paul Scully

Posted on June 1, 2022 by wonkypolicywonk

In recent years, BEIS minister Paul Scully – a strong contender for the hotly-contested title of Most Idiotic Minister in the Johnson Government – has repeatedly and brazenly claimed that “the UK’s maternity leave system is one of the most … Continue reading →

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Overdue: a Labour Party policy on equal parenting

Posted on January 20, 2022 by wonkypolicywonk

Recently on this blog, I noted that pretty much all that Labour’s otherwise impressively ambitious September 2021 ‘green paper’ on employment rights had to say about securing a much-needed societal shift towards more equal parenting – a shift essential to ending the … Continue reading →

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Shared Parental Leave: Someday will surely come

Posted on January 13, 2022 by wonkypolicywonk

A few weeks ago, yet another year came to an end without the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) having concluded its marathon evaluation of the chronically failing Shared Parental Leave scheme. Originally due to start in March … Continue reading →

Posted in Parental rights, Workers' rights | Tagged | 4 Comments

The mother of all statistics

Posted on January 9, 2022 by wonkypolicywonk

Four months ago on this blog, I posed the question: How many women start on statutory paid maternity leave in the UK each year? You’d think this would be a well-known and widely used official statistic, freely available on some … Continue reading →

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Shared Parental Leave: No need for candles

Posted on May 5, 2020 by wonkypolicywonk

Until it got wiped out by the Covid19 pandemic, this year was a busy one for #ukemplaw anniversaries. And many of them are (or, at least, were) a cause for celebration: the Equal Pay Act 1970 is 50 years old … Continue reading →

Posted in Equality, Parental rights, Workers' rights | Tagged , , | 1 Comment