How UK paternity leave compares to the rest of Europe

Becoming a new father can be considerably affected by the quantity of paternity leave available to fathers, and A report published this week suggests that British dads are wrong with what is offered elsewhere in Europe.

BBC News spoke to dads in different countries that they can remove the work after the birth of their children – and how it changed paternity for them.

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

“I had to look at my partner to fight to take care of our child,” said Jamie. “The greatest thing I remember was crying. My daughter clearly needed support and my wife was significantly in difficulty and exhausted.”

A few weeks after the birth of Kiara, Jamie’s stepmother flew from Zimbabwe to support the family, because Jamie was only entitled to a statutory paternity leave.

Rules in the United Kingdom Allow new fathers and second parents in a full -time job to take up to two weeks off. This applies to all partners, whatever gender, after birth, substitution maternity or the adoption of a baby, but not those who are self -employed or daddy earning less than £ 123 per week.

Eligible persons receive £ 187.18 per week, or 90% of their average profits, according to both. It works as less than half of the national decent salary.

Jamie, from Ashford in Kent, says that statutory salary “was frankly money”.

He and his partner now expect their second child in August – something for which they started to save before Jamie’s wife, Zanele, even fell pregnant.

Jamie says that her “frustration” on the authorship of paternity led him to attend the first “dad strike” in the world earlier this week, when fathers from across the country protested before the government department for business and trade in Westminster.

“See things change relatively recently in other countries … Why don’t we follow?” Said Jamie.

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

He divided his paternity leave into two parts – six weeks – which was compulsory – immediately after the birth of Alicia, and the remaining 10 weeks when his wife returned to work.

“The time of prolonged quality with Alicia allowed us to develop a solid bond which, I think, would not have trained in such a deep way,” explains Octavio, computer engineer from Seville.

In recent years, Spain has increased the time granted to new fathers. In 2019, dads were entitled to five weeks off. But from 2021, this was extended at 16 weeks at full compensation, including those who are self -employed. There is no ceiling on the salary paid. This means that parental leave is now equal between mothers and dads in Spain.

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

France has also made progressive measures on paternity leave in recent years.

Antoine is an architect who lives on the outskirts of Paris and has benefited from changes. When his son Thibault was born five years ago, Antoine, who worked full time, was entitled to two weeks of paternity leave.

But in September 2020, the paternity leave in France doubled, which means that Antoine obtained four weeks off when his second child was born in 2023.

“It allowed me to support my wife and children,” he said. “Fathers should be allowed to be more present during these family life periods that enrich all the relationships and allow them to take their place as a full -time parents.”

The rules of the paternity of France mean that dads – including those who are independent – must take a week off immediately after the birth of their child. The remuneration is covered by the employer during the first three days, but after that is funded by the State.

The remaining 21 days, which can be divided into two pieces, are optional and can be taken at any time in the next six months. The salary is capped at € 3,428 (£ 2,921) per month.

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

“You see dads walking with their children and young babies,” explains André. “I was like:” Wow, I’m not used to that. “”

Papas in Denmark, including those that are independent, can take up to 24 weeks in state -of -the -counter remuneration by the state.

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

André decided to divide his parental leave – taking two weeks immediately after the birth of his baby Miro and saving the remaining 11 weeks – so that he can take care of his nine -month -old son when his partner returns to work.

“In Denmark, the partner is expected to be more present,” explains André. “You are not only connected with your child, but you want to develop the family as a whole.”

Papas with full -time jobs in Poland are entitled to two weeks of paternity leave. But unlike the United Kingdom, the salary is 100%paid, which, according to Kamil, was “great”.

Shortly after the first birthday of his daughter Marianna, Kamil took nine weeks of non -transferable parental leave, which must be taken the first year. This is available for both parents, as long as they are employed and are paid 70% of a full -time salary.

“For many families, the 70% nine weeks are very low,” says Kamil, “but … When I took the leave, my wife started going back to work. I won 30% less, but she started winning more, so it was beneficial for our family.”

Kamil says that these additional weeks have attenuated a lot of “stress” while his wife was spending work after a year of maternity leave.

“I was confident,” said Kamil. “I felt like I was doing a good job – and my daughter felt good with me.”

Mattias, from Stockholm, says that comforting his three -month -old son is “the best feeling I have ever felt”.

Mattias is able to take advantage of one of the most generous paternity leave policies in the world. Parents in Sweden, including those who are independent, can share up to 480 days of parental leave, with 90 days reserved specifically for each parent.

Ringfencing leave for dads was introduced for the first time in Sweden in 1995, with the introduction of a “month of dad” – 30 days just for fathers. This model of use or coward went to 60 days in 2002 and 90 days in 2016.

The first 390 days for each parent are paid 80% by the government, up to a monthly salary ceiling of 47,750 SEK (£ 3,590). After that, there is a daily statutory compensation for Sek180 (£ 14).

Mattias has taken six weeks off at the birth of Otto and will use nine months of parental leave from November.

“We could share the charge at the start when everything was new,” said Mattias. “These six weeks allowed us to be parents together – it made a huge difference.”

Some companies, both in the United Kingdom and abroad, pay on their own pocket for improved paternity leave policies beyond the legal minimum. But the research of 2023 has shown that 12% of low -income household fathers had access to their total right of parental leave improved by the employer.

Alex Lloyd-Hunter, co-founder of The Dad Shift, said that “money is the biggest obstacle” to dads who take time and want the government to finance better paternity leave for all dads.

A report, published this week by the Committee of Women and Equality (WEC), said that statutory salary in the United Kingdom was “completely out of Kilter with the cost of living”. He suggested that the government should consider increasing paternity pay to 90% or more and that paternity leaves six weeks in a progressive approach.

The report also examined shared parental leave, introduced in 2014, which allows parents to share up to 50 weeks of leave and up to 37 weeks of salary after the birth or adoption of a child. The journal revealed that many families considered it “unnecessarily complex”. It is used in less than 2% of all births and a 2023 report 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 must be improved,” said a spokesperson for the Department of Affairs and Trade, adding that the government would examine maternity leave, paternity leave and shared parental leave.

They also indicated changes which mean that dads should no longer be employed by a company for 26 weeks to be entitled to statutory paternity leave.