Invisible men

By Bill Dewison

I shudder sometimes when I read what think tanks come up with, but I recently received an email about a Reform idea that appears to be onto something.

The report is based on British fathers being invisible men when it comes to parental leave and it focuses on the how the low paid get a raw deal when it comes to maternity pay. The standard answer we’re usually treated to at this point is an increase in tax or something that swings the imbalance the other way and it is taken by the electorate as an attack rather than something positive.

Reform’s idea is a little different though. To begin with, they claim there could be savings of £275 million a year by getting rid of gimmicks and schemes which, in their view, don’t really work well such as the healthy start scheme and the health in pregnancy grant. They also suggest that maternity pay becomes a parental payment and for it to be set at a flat rate of around £192 per week which can be claimed by the mother or the father.

There is evidence that shows families are stronger and fathers more likely to read to their children if they take paternity leave and Reform suggests the provision of six months of unpaid leave to both the mother and the father, during the first year of a child’s life, to be taken at the same time or one after the other.

It may not be the ideal time economically to suggest that both parents should be off work for six months and I’m not overly sure whether many small to medium sized businesses could cope with the absent workers, but then you could argue that there would be more temporary work for the unemployed if those in full time employment took 6 months leave to be with their newly born children.

It is well worth a read as it is addressing an important issue which is often overlooked: a father’s time with his children. The question is, though, are there large numbers of men who would like paternity leave and would they be willing to take similar career breaks as some women choose to when it comes to having children?

Would better paternity leave make a big difference to a father’s relationship with his kids, lead to stronger family units and would mothers benefit from the extra support? And the big question, can the majority afford financially to take the leave?