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MNHQ

Shared Parental Leave: share your views and you could win £300! NOW CLOSED

354 replies

AnnMumsnet · 17/03/2015 09:06

Parents with children due or adopted from 5 April will be among the first to take advantage of Shared Parental Leave. To coincide with its introduction Shared Parental Leave, we have been asked by the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills to find out what you think about this new policy for parents.

The team there say "From April 2015, parents will have greater choice and flexibility over how they share the care of their child in the first year of their life. Shared Parental Leave allows working couples share up to 50 weeks of leave and 37 weeks of pay in a way that suits their work and family needs. For example, parents can take time off together or they can tag team, stopping and starting leave and returning to work in between if they wish.
Check your eligibility and how much pay you can get here. We'd love to know what you think about this and how you'd use it for your family."

So, please have a look at the information provided here and let us know on this thread what you think. If you or your partner is pregnant and your baby is due from 5 April do you think you'll use it? Would you have used it when you had your last child if it had been an option? Do you think you will share leave with your partner if you have children in the future? How would it work in your family?

Have a look at the video:

Add your comment by 30 March 2015 at 9am and you'll be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £300 voucher for the store of your choice (from a list). Insight T&Cs apply

Thanks and good luck
MNHQ

OP posts:
SoonToBeSix · 17/03/2015 14:07

I still think it is sexist and unfair. Women can receive statutory maternity pay regardless of their partners status. Therefore fathers should be able to take time off/ receive pay even if the mother does not go back to work.

ukbliss2012 · 17/03/2015 14:21

I think it's a good idea so that one parent is not solely responsible. It's a shared thing.

parkingpearlclutching · 17/03/2015 14:26

I think this is a great idea legally but I would worry that it is always used by men to support their families and their partners.
In principle, yes men should have time off work to look after babies.
In practice, men have a way of using everything to their advantage. If a woman is working, we know she (statistically) does more housework anyway. If she is doing this while having a very small baby (perhaps breastfeeding it at night too), while her husband dosses around at home and lets the laundry mount up for her to get back to, it's a pretty shit life for her.

That might sound like a very jaundiced view but the reality is, it is very dangerous to extend traditionally female rights and privileges to men in a culture where men are still socialised to view everything, including women, as for their convenience.

childbirth is a big thing and so can breastfeeding be. I would not necessarily rely on men to get that and to use the resources at their disposal as they should to support the physical and mental well being of their partner.

Some will. Some men will see this and do the right thing. Some won't.

GuybrushThreepwoodMightyPirate · 17/03/2015 14:33

The news rules are too late for us but DH is taking a couple of months off in the summer when I go back to work (under the old rules). I think it's a good thing that there will be more opportunity for men to take on some care duties and perhaps ultimately less discrimination against women 'of childbearing age' at work.

Cherryjellybean · 17/03/2015 14:39

I think it is a good idea, and will really benefit some families. I think some employers will find it difficult in some ways though

createbeauty · 17/03/2015 14:49

I think it's a good idea. I could've really used the help after I had my son as I had a catheter in for 9 days (including on my birthday) and suffered from severe postnatal depression but only had my husband at home to help for a measly two weeks.

Greedyfly · 17/03/2015 14:49

Fantastic idea which will surely benefit a lot of new parents, more needs to be done to assist and support new parents, both of them not just the Mother.

PomeralLights · 17/03/2015 14:50

My PFB was born jan this year, so we've missed this. I would have loved DH to have been able to take more than 2 weeks to be at home with us in the first weeks. However, we wouldn't have/won't shared considerable tranches of leave as I am EBF. BF is the big concern for me with this - sharing leave doesn't support EBF very well. I hate the 'just pump at work' mentality as if pumping is easy...and also as if bm is something that can be simply removed and commoditised, not acknowledging that actually the best thing for baby and mum is bm straight from the breast and this should be supported as much as possible.
Not expressing myself well but I don't like the idea of mums being told 'if you want support share leave and just pump/formula' rather than better paternity rights being available in a way that is fully distinct from maternity leave and therefores supports EBF.

diamondsrock · 17/03/2015 15:04

It's too late for our family as well, but it certainly sounds like something we could have used, although I don't really think it continues for long enough and it should be paid for the whole period. We really need more investment to support families.

DinoRAUR · 17/03/2015 15:12

I think this is a great idea, I hope it really takes off.

Dorual · 17/03/2015 15:13

I think this is really great. It will give flexible options for leave, meaning some families will really benefit, and will now be able to find better ways of coping than they might have found before.

It will have no effect on me, considering I'm a SAHM, but I love the fact the law is now recognising the importance of the dad's role, and finding solutions to past grey areas.

Iwasbornin1993 · 17/03/2015 15:14

Myself and OH will definitely use this when we have DC (hopefully in the next two years). It will be nice for him to take more than two weeks off, but we won't use it for extended periods just because he earns the vast majority of our joint income so we couldn't afford to lose too much.

marlus · 17/03/2015 15:14

I can see that finances might keep people from taking this up, but do sometimes wonder whether we are still prioritising men's careers in our families. When my DS was born, my husband was doing a Masters and then unemployed for a while, so when I went back to work 4 days/week, he looked after DS. But when he got the offer of a full-time job (that paid less than mine) he took it and I dropped a day so he would also have a career with prospects. Would we have done the same if I had been the man? Same with this Shared Parental Leave - I earn more but will still take most of the time off.

As for breastfeeding - I EBF my son for a year (besides solid food after weaning at 6 months) but this didn't need to keep me home after 8 months. So there's still time for the father to take over. Both parents being home can happen earlier. I just wish that with twins both of us could get the whole year Smile

susurration · 17/03/2015 15:15

This is going to be fab for us in the future. Due to an illness on my part we have already contemplated husband asking to use holiday/work from home following paternity leave and so to be able to use SPL to have him at home for a bit longer after the birth will be great. As a consequence I am more than willing to cut my own leave short by a week or two, if it means my husband can be at home supporting me after the birth for longer.

gamerwidow · 17/03/2015 16:02

This is great for mums and dads and it gives parents more flexibility if they want it. Mums can take less time out of work which will help their long term career prospects and dads get to have a chance to bond with their children in a more active parenting role.
That being said we wouldn't have shared leave when my daughter was born. My DH struggled to adjust to fatherhood in the early months and he wouldn't have managed with her full time.

MissPronounced · 17/03/2015 16:25

I think this is a really good idea. Options and flexibility are always positives.

shivbrown · 17/03/2015 16:28

I think its is a fantastic idea would loved to of had this a few years ago.

jenniwren12 · 17/03/2015 16:37

I think it's absolutely fab idea for families that it would work for. It's too late for us, but I was (and still am) extremely lucky being a stay at home mum

barbsbarbs · 17/03/2015 17:19

yes I thin k it would stengthen family ties and help bonding with the baby

SummerHouse · 17/03/2015 17:21

My brother took three months off after his wife went back to work. He talks about it as one of the best decisions of his life and I am really proud of him. I hope one day this will just be the norm.

finleypop · 17/03/2015 17:28

I think it makes perfect sense. My husband is self employed & although not able to take extended time off, he was at least able to reduce his hours to be around those first few weeks. I think it is just as important for a father to have bonding time with his child

beckyinman · 17/03/2015 17:56

I think it is an excellent idea - in the first few weeks new mums could do with an extra pair of hands adjusting

Oldbiddywilkins · 17/03/2015 18:29

I think it's a brilliant idea. It wouldn't have suited my family but I think it would for some of my friends.

Amummyatlast · 17/03/2015 18:42

I think it's great and I wish it had been in force when we had DD. Instead I had to wait until she was 20 months before we could swap and DH could take additional paternity leave. If we are lucky enough to have a second it won't apply to us, as DH is now a SAHP, but I think it will be very beneficial for some families.

maureen3733 · 17/03/2015 18:47

i think its an excellent idea. fathers are as valuable as mothers and this is being recognised now.