Would you and your partner take time off work if companies offered 6 months paid parental leave for all?

[JustineBMumsnet]

This activity is now closed

Having a new baby is an exciting time regardless of whether you’re a mum or a dad, and spending time with them in those first few months is a precious experience. A year ago Aviva introduced its equal paid parental leave policy, where all employees can take up to 12 months off, with no need for mums to share their maternity allowance. With this in mind, Aviva would like to hear your thoughts on giving all parents the same amount of time off.

Here’s what Caroline Prendergast, Interim Chief People Officer at Aviva has to say: “We decided to make all parents at Aviva eligible for the same amount of paid and unpaid time off, regardless of gender, sexual orientation or how they became a parent. We thought that dads would want to spend time with their new arrivals, just as mums do. One year on, our experience shows that with financial barriers removed, they do just that.”

You can find out more about Aviva as an employer here.

If all companies offered 6 months paid parental leave, do you think your spouse or partner would be prepared take the time off work to share childcare duties? If not, why not?

All who post below will be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £300 voucher for the store of their choice (from a list).

Thanks and good luck!

MNHQ

Insight Terms and Conditions apply

DH would in a heartbeat, but it would depend on the level of pay offered as to whether we could afford for him to.

Great idea but personally I wouldn’t want to shorten my time at home with the baby for the sake of my partner also having time- if you exclusively breastfeed it’s handy to have the milk and baby in the same place!

Mammatron I think the point is that it’s not about sharing leave (as is the option now) but men actually being given the same amount of time in their own right.

We'd love to do this. We're looking at adoption, and DH would love to be able to participate more, but as he cannot be primary carer (military), he will be denied that opportunity which is very sad for him and any potential children of ours.

Fathers should be given the opportunity, ane only then will we see a shift in the expectation of how primary caring responsibilities will fall in families.

Probably not unless it was full pay, due to salary difference.

Also in our specific circumstances, it would have been a lovely idea and both of us would have been willing but my physical (and mental) recovery from labour would have prevented me returning to work any sooner than I did.

I think this is a positive, forward step & would be an opportunity for dads to see the realities of being at home with the baby. So many men get a tiny amount of time off then head back to their normal pre baby lives where women (generally) find everything has changed.

I had 2 CS and being unable to drive left me feeling trapped and lonely. This would be a great option if baby #3 ever happens!

i am currently on maternity leave. My partner wanted to be off as much as possible with me and the baby and his company offer 4 weeks paternal leace which he could have taken, however as this is paid at SMP level he could not afford to reduce his salary to this so chose not to take it and used annual leave instead. A period of full pay or 90% pay would have been amazing.

This would be amazing. I struggled with poor mental health during both periods of maternity leave as I felt overwhelmed and lonely. Having my other half there to support me and share in the bonding over those early months would have been amazing for both of us.

My other half would definetly have taken this if offered. Reality is that he is self employed so I'm just greatful that his business is at a point where he can take 2 weeks paternity leave!

We are currently expecting twins and would welcome as much time off together as possible!

My husband's employer was an early adopter if shared parental leave and we considered it when we had our first baby. In reality, I wasn't ready to return to work "early" and I took a full 12 months off work, despite that not being the financially most advantageous option for us (I earn more than DH). With second baby we followed the same pattern and I have just recently returned to work after 12 months. I work full time while my husband works part time (3 days) and has our kids the other 2 days of the week. That works best for us, but it's certainly good to have the option of more flexibility.

My partner would have loved more paid time off with his dc. No doubt, he would have been over the moon to share the childcare on paid leave. He would also have been a greater presence of support for me as I struggled with PND with first dc and yet felt compelled to hide this from employers until I literally had no choice and had to say ‘I can’t return to work yet’, at the end of my mat leave. Obviously there’s no knowing how much difference it would have made to have him with me but I can clearly remember the early bad days before I started receiving treatment, and the feeling of sheer relief when he came home.

Just to offer the choice to men can only be a good thing.

My partner would have enjoyed time off alongside me. He wouldn't have taken time off while I went back to work, because I breastfed and I didn't want to be apart from my children anyway. But I think greater flexibility is good for families in general.

Great idea- my partner would have loved to had had more time off work but had to go back after 2 weeks

If it was 6 months then I'd rather it was one after the other so that there was a year with a parent at home, but if it's 12 months like Aviva then I would definitely use this. I think it could help with depression for the one who would stay at home as now they don't have to do everything and aren't going stir crazy with no adult company, and for the one who would normally go to work and miss a lot because babies progress so quickly

Flexible parental leave for both parents that can be taken whenever would be a nice idea, but for real equity the mother's maternity leave couldn't be counted in this as she needs to physically recover from the birth, breastfeed etc and this needs to be considered separately.

I think it's great to give Dads that opportunity

I think this is a great idea, I'm sure my husband would have made use of this. Great for the mum to share the care of the new baby and great for the new dad to have time to bond with the baby.

12 months paid and shared is really good for those at Aviva. It is a good thing for all Companies to do. Sadly the ones that do subsidise the ones that do not and that is wrong. Sharing it equally bu allowing choice is also good. Dependent on the person some mums (and dads despite practical barriers) want to do it all and some do not so allowing them to maximise this to their personal cicumstance and preference is very helpful. I was a bit late to avail of this but sisters and brother in laws have.

Perhaps all the Companies that do this or want to do this should petition and lobby the Government for a law change or perhaps some tax relief for those Companies that do this - or a higher tax on those that do not.

When I had my fourth I had to give up work completely as I was so ill, but this would have benefitted my husband so much. He has always said that he wishes he had been able to have more time to bond with our younger ones while I recuperated. I think this would have made life so much easier for all of us. x
Dads want that early crappy nappy screamy pukey bonding sesh too! x

Husband would have loved to do this but in reality he would have driven me crazy! Lovely idea though and I’m sure it would work well for many. Particularly beneficial for mums suffering from pnd or physical injuries from the birth, I would think.

I like the idea, I'm not 100% sure, I exclusively breast fed and despite starting weaning at 6m his main source of food came from me till more like 9/10 months, so it wouldn't have been practical. Also I found getting back into the swing of things after a long period of leave hard and has stagnated my career somewhat, I think this for both parents isn't great financially, however this is just me, other people may have been totally unaffected!

My DH took zero paternity leave because we couldn’t afford to live on statutory pay (£140 a week). If he was entitled to some weeks on full pay he would have taken them. It’s unfair that women get some weeks on full pay but men don’t.

Great idea. I’ve had my lot of babies so no more parental leave to take however if our employers had offered it then we would have taken full advantage.

Only just joined today, My partner is currently away from home 3 nights a week (no kids yet but starting to try in the new year) and he is willing to take a pay cut to get home every evening. So I know he would happily take the 6 months paid leave.