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Guest post and Q&A: Jo Swinson - 'Shared Parental Leave: the time is now'

37 replies

MumsnetGuestPosts · 25/02/2015 12:42

It doesn't feel like that long ago that my husband and I were excitedly listening to the sonographer's description of what we were seeing on the screen at our first antenatal scan. Hearing that heartbeat for the first time is amazing, but planning for your new arrival brings a certain sense of trepidation, along with the excitement – especially as people are constantly telling you your life is never going to be the same again, with a knowing smile.

Parents-to-be who are going through this at the moment can now choose how they split the leave from work after baby is born in a way that suits them. To benefit from Shared Parental Leave - which kicks in on April 5 - you need to give your employer 8 weeks' notice. So, if your baby is due in April, you should let your employers know as soon as possible.

Shared Parental Leave will mean that - while mums still have to take at least two weeks of maternity leave immediately after birth - working couples can split up to 50 weeks of shared parental leave and up to 37 weeks of pay after that. With each parent able to take up to three separate blocks of leave, families now have a real choice in how they spend the first year of their child's life.

Beyond this, I believe that Shared Parental Leave will be a catalyst for the wider cultural change we need - where fathers feel empowered to take time off to look after their children and not constrained by outdated stereotypes. Our survey found that public attitudes have changed significantly; most now see childcare as an equal responsibility of both parents.

We also know that many employers are supportive and are keen to offer mums and dads more flexibility to keep talent in their organisation. Maintaining a strong link to the workplace, whilst playing a full part in the early stages of their child's life, is really important for women and men who plan to return to work. There are many mums who want to be able to balance being a hands-on parent with a dynamic career and there are many working dads who want to be able to spend more time bonding with their baby in the early months of their child's development. Employers see the benefit in terms of staff loyalty and providing women with the option to return to work earlier, which is why many are embracing the changes.

These changes are close to my heart. I've campaigned for them for years, and I'm delighted to have been able to change the law as the government minister responsible. Becoming a mum myself has only reinforced how important it is: the archaic assumption that childcare is only an issue for women fails to recognise the crucial role that dads play. While ‘having it all’ might seem like an impossible challenge, at least we now recognise that women might want both a fulfilling job and family life. With just two weeks of paternity leave and popular culture that far too often brands dads as hapless and bumbling, men are written out of the family script with worrying regularity. Research clearly shows that fathers playing a more active role has a positive impact on a child's development.

However as the Family and Childcare Trust recently reiterated, the cost of childcare is rising, and for many families, who takes leave and for how long remains a financial decision. Even in difficult economic times, we have made a start in tackling this problem by extending free early years education to the most disadvantaged 2-year-olds. There is clearly a long way still to go, though, and the Lib Dems have ideas about how tackle this in the next parliament.

At the moment, there is a gap in paid support for parents from the end of paid maternity or parental leave at 9 months, before free childcare hours kick in at 2 years. The Lib Dems propose to fill that gap with 15 hours of free childcare for all working parents. On top of this, it is our ambition to increase free childcare to 20 hours a week for all 2, 3, and 4-year-olds, and for children from 9 months to 2-years-olds in the case of working parents. We're the only party with a comprehensive offer to help parents with the care of their child right through from birth to school.

In the meantime, I believe that Shared Parental Leave will help kick-start a cultural shift in the workplace; ultimately making it just as normal for fathers to take on childcare responsibilities as mothers. When mothers and adopters have real choice about when they return to work, and when fathers have more time to bond with their baby, children will have better outcomes. Employers should benefit from lower staff turnover and having a workforce that is more flexible and motivated. The arrival of a little person turns your life upside down (albeit in a wonderful way), so giving families choice about how they make it work is essential.

Please do share your experiences and ask questions on the thread below - I'm interested to hear whether our ambition matches your reality.

Find out more about Shared Parental Leave and check your eligibility here.

OP posts:
motherenterprise · 25/02/2015 15:18

My second child is due 9th April and we're still debating whether or not my husband should take leave as he still has some reservations about how it will impact on his career.

Regardless of this though, I really think shared parental leave is a very important and exciting step in the right direction for the UK. Not just because of the impact it will have on childcare responsibilities and the children themselves, but because of what it will mean in future for women in the workplace, career progression and gender balance on senior leadership boards. I'm just in the middle of writing a post on exactly this subject on my wordpress blog!

AKnickerfulOfMenace · 25/02/2015 17:00

.

Guyropes · 25/02/2015 17:54

We want to do this, but my partners employer has not yet updated its t&c's so we've no idea if this is financially viable yet.

In the case where the dad's employer 'mirrors' the maternity offer, eg the first 6 weeks at a 90% rate of pay, can dad take this 6 weeks for example when the baby is 4 months old (more realistic than within 1st 6 weeks really!)

I'm just guessing at scenarios really, and it's annoying me that they haven't published their deal yet.

Just as well I'm not due in April!

Dove79 · 25/02/2015 19:22

Really pleased to see these changes being brought in - both as a new mum and also as a business owner tired of seeing talented women leaving good jobs when employers effectively write them off. Cultural change re who is 'expected' to look after children is key. The usual devil in the detail provisos apply though - will the scheme be extended to the self employed who are currently eligible for Statutory Maternity Allowance not SMP?

AKnickerfulOfMenace · 25/02/2015 19:59

Guy, the 90% pay is not offered by the employer for six weeks, that is statutory maternity pay.

AKnickerfulOfMenace · 25/02/2015 20:02

Jo, will the libdems bring in a period of "use it or lose it" leave ie there is an additional overall month of leave only available if the father takes at least a month. Some other countries do this and it improves take up.

Guyropes · 25/02/2015 20:37

Knicker full, I don't really understand. What does that mean? Is my partner ever going to get 90% pay? If not, it's not viable for us, as he earns far more than me. This is what pisses me off about this; I've still got no detail to read so I can't make a plan. There is a big possibility that this simply won't work for us. So I'm not going to bang on about how fantastic it is until I can see that it's viable!

Lomax2015 · 25/02/2015 23:36

Hi what are your thoughts on employers who offer female employees enhanced maternity pay. Are those employers now legally obliged to offer the male employees the same enhanced pay as part of it's shared parental leave scheme? Could it be discriminatory not to ?

AKnickerfulOfMenace · 25/02/2015 23:52

Arse, lost my post.

AKnickerfulOfMenace · 25/02/2015 23:56

Try again...

Guyropes, the woman takes maternity leave. When she opts to end it, the couple qualify for APL and either of them can take it. There is no statutory requirement for any APL to be paid at 90% of pay. APL weeks are paid on the same basis as SMP outside of the six week, 90% period ie c£138 per week.

The issue employers will have is whether to extend any non statutory, enhanced pay to employees taking APL. The civil service has stated it will: others are biding their time.

AKnickerfulOfMenace · 25/02/2015 23:59

To summarise;

SMP - 6 weeks at 90% of pay, 33 weeks at £138 per week, 13 weeks at £0

APL - all weeks up to a total of 39 weeks between the couple across ML and APL paid at £138 per week.

(NB for low earners, APL is paid at the lower of 90% of pay and £138, but this doesn't apply to you.)

avocadotoast · 26/02/2015 08:44

Guyropes, I'm in a similar position to you.

I'm due in May and intend to take six months, with DH then taking three as SPL. The difficulty is that neither of our employers have a clue what they're doing so we haven't been able to plan our finances properly. We've just looked at a worst case scenario; that we'll probably have one full time wage and one lot of SMP (or equivalent) for that first nine months.

For us it isn't as much of an issue because we earn pretty much the same, so whichever of us is off, our household finances will be the same really. I can imagine for people who earn different salaries it'll be a nightmare at the minute though.

The other annoying thing is that DH's work offers a great maternity package (mine is just legal minimum). Yet they don't seem to have worked out what they're doing with SPL, so we've no idea whether he'll get the same deal as a woman would. I feel like it should be the same, but I don't know whether there's any legal requirement for it to be.

stargirl1701 · 26/02/2015 09:06

I think shared parental leave is great but employers will need to offer enhanced packages to enable it to work. I get 3 months full pay as part of my mat leave terms and conditions. My husband gets SPP.

I would prefer to see children cared for at home by a parent until 2 years than see free childcare but I recognise that many others would not.

Viviennemary · 26/02/2015 10:14

If people earn roughly the same this can work. But it's just pie in the sky for couples where one partner earns substantially more than the other. It just isn't going to work for a lot of people.

AKnickerfulOfMenace · 26/02/2015 10:39

At least the option is there though, Vivienne. People are always balancing finance and family, this is just another option.

avocadotoast · 26/02/2015 11:31

Vivienne, but then if it's the mother who earns more then it's an excellent idea. I have friends who earn significantly more than their partners and would be in a much better position using shared leave than just maternity.

Gonzales27 · 26/02/2015 15:00

I'd like to know if any of the parties plans to do anything about the way private nurseries are able to manipulate the "free childcare" hours so that the nursery makes additional profit from the subsidy by not passing it on in full to the parents.

In our area we have proved to our council that the nursery is being paid £3.25 per hour by the council but only reducing the parents bill by £2.50 per hour. But the council are not investigating the nursery as their bizarre rules are being adhered to even though the outcome is that only the nursery benefits!!

(the nursery has constructed a convoluted billing system to prove that if you deducted costs for meals and non-core hours, then the "free hours which are specific times in the day, are billed at £2.50! So although the daily rate is £42 the hourly rate is £2.50 and that's what will be deducted from your bill for the "free" 15 hrs. )

How can politicians allow such well meaning policies to be so badly distorted from their original intentions. I know of several other nurseries where similar shenanigans are taking place.

JoSwinsonMP · 26/02/2015 15:18

test - we're just warming up here - to be with you shortly!

JoSwinsonMP · 26/02/2015 15:18

@JoSwinsonMP

test - we're just warming up here - to be with you shortly!


test two
JoSwinsonMP · 26/02/2015 15:37

@motherenterprise

My second child is due 9th April and we're still debating whether or not my husband should take leave as he still has some reservations about how it will impact on his career.

Regardless of this though, I really think shared parental leave is a very important and exciting step in the right direction for the UK. Not just because of the impact it will have on childcare responsibilities and the children themselves, but because of what it will mean in future for women in the workplace, career progression and gender balance on senior leadership boards. I'm just in the middle of writing a post on exactly this subject on my wordpress blog!


Fantastic - one of the earliest people eligible! Delighted to hear you're considering using SPL. This issue about dads-to-be wondering how it will affect their career comes up a lot - of course it is something working mums have been grappling with for decades. But it does highlight how important it is that we make workplaces fairer so there isn't a parenthood penalty at all - and actually I think more dads taking time out to look after kids is a really important part of making that happen. And while this is primarily a measure to help children and families, I also love that it has wider impacts to support more equality in the workplace.
JoSwinsonMP · 26/02/2015 15:39

@Guyropes

We want to do this, but my partners employer has not yet updated its t&c's so we've no idea if this is financially viable yet.

In the case where the dad's employer 'mirrors' the maternity offer, eg the first 6 weeks at a 90% rate of pay, can dad take this 6 weeks for example when the baby is 4 months old (more realistic than within 1st 6 weeks really!)

I'm just guessing at scenarios really, and it's annoying me that they haven't published their deal yet.

Just as well I'm not due in April!


That's really frustrating. Lots of employers have already published their policies and it's great that many are deciding to match what they do in terms of enhancing maternity pay for shared parental pay too. But of course others haven't yet caught up and hopefully by you asking the question that will encourage them to get on with working out what they will offer.
stargirl1701 · 26/02/2015 15:42

I would like to see a transferable tax allowance for parents with children under 3. Whoever elects to stay at home can transfer their personal tax allowance to the working parent. This would make all the difference for us.

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JoSwinsonMP · 26/02/2015 15:45

@Dove79

Really pleased to see these changes being brought in - both as a new mum and also as a business owner tired of seeing talented women leaving good jobs when employers effectively write them off. Cultural change re who is 'expected' to look after children is key. The usual devil in the detail provisos apply though - will the scheme be extended to the self employed who are currently eligible for Statutory Maternity Allowance not SMP?


You're absolutely right that the cultural change is a crucial part of this. I see the legislation as a useful catalyst but I'm trying to use every means at my disposal to promote this, talk about it, get companies thinking about it and importantly encouraging dads to speak out about it!

The role of dads in society is often invisible - while the media constantly reports about the family situation of high-profile women in business, politics and senior roles, they are usually silent about this for men. Cue lots of "mother-of-three" headlines and descriptors, but when did you last see "father-of-two" prefacing a man's name in a news story?

To answer your self-employment point, yes it does apply to self-employed women whose partners are employed. They can choose to end their SMA early so their partner can use the rest of the entitlement for leave and pay.
JoSwinsonMP · 26/02/2015 15:47

@AKnickerfulOfMenace

Jo, will the libdems bring in a period of "use it or lose it" leave ie there is an additional overall month of leave only available if the father takes at least a month. Some other countries do this and it improves take up.


Yes we will! Nick Clegg recently announced that Lib Dems in the next Government would bring in an additional four weeks leave for dads – bringing it up to six weeks – that they would take on a use it or lose it basis, though not having to be taken all in one go. In designing the policy we’ve definitely been looking at international examples – especially from the Nordics where they have driven much more lasting shift in behaviours over the last ten years.
JoSwinsonMP · 26/02/2015 15:51

@Lomax2015

Hi what are your thoughts on employers who offer female employees enhanced maternity pay. Are those employers now legally obliged to offer the male employees the same enhanced pay as part of it's shared parental leave scheme? Could it be discriminatory not to ?


The short answer is they are not legally required to match the policies as they are two separate regimes. Though once a couple is on shared parental leave and pay they can't pay a different rate of SPP to the man or woman, it must be the same. of course we are encouraging employers to enhance SPP too, but if we had made this a requirement it could have led some employers to decrease the maternity benefits they offer which obviously would not have been what we wanted to achieve!
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