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

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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?

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This is a great idea. My husband would use this

DH was forced to change jobs during my first trimester so is now working round the clock to accumulate holiday hours so he can take time off when our baby is born. We can't afford for DH to take unpaid leave and have no family living nearby. If I end up needing a section I have no idea how I'll cope alone. This is our first baby so the whole thing is totally overwhelming to think about and try and plan for. Even if DH was entitled to paid paternity leave we would struggle to afford time off but we could at least try and save some money to cover 4-6 weeks off. 6 months entitlement, especially if the pay is higher than statutory, would be an absolute dream come true at this point. If more companies could offer this it would be amazing. Both parents should be entitled to time off after birth to bond with their new baby, but having your partner there to help you whilst you're recovering and to take turns caring for the baby so neither of you are permanently sleep deprived, surely that's invaluable?

What a great idea - I am looking forward to equal parenting with my partner, unfortunately that does have financial drawbacks as our shared parental leave currently works- if this were implemented in my partners company we would be very happy workers!

Policy flexibility is the key - as messages show, individual couples have different needs and situations.

Love the fact Aviva have a 'People Officer' btw. I always thought 'human resources' an Orwellian term. Like something from the movie Soylent Green.

We would 100%take this up. My husband and I are equal parents and would be so excited if our employers had offered us this.

My partner would take it it in a heart beat as always tired from working and looking after kids while I work part time . He works fall time . Would give him more time together as a family .

I think this is a wonderful initiative and will benefit the child greatly being able to bond with both parents rather than just with mum since more and more fathers are wanting to be hands on fathers rather than just be there in the background to support their partners. We live in a time where both parents especially fathers are spending too little time with their children and this can lead to many problems later on for both relationships. Some fathers may want to leave baby with mum whilst they go to work which is ok too but at least the opportunity is there should they change their mind and want to enjoy their new borns birth and early few months of life.

It's a great idea if it's an independent entitlement for the dad and the time doesn't have to be deducted from the mum's mat leave as per spl. what I would find even better (maybe they do allow this?) Would be if the dad could take his entitlement say any time in the first two years, so the mum could take her year + any accrued annual leave then the dad could take his time also. But maybe I am dreaming!

I think this is a fantastic scheme. My husband and I looked into if this was available when we were thinking about baby number two, as we wanted him to have a go at staying at home with baby this time. The paternity pay at his work is so poor and if he took any weeks, it took it away from my maternity leave allowance so it wasn't an option.

In 2018 I think parents should be able to decide how they use their parental leave. Not all woman want to have long maternity leave absences.

Speaking for my partner and myself, we would absolutely have taken up this entitlement were it offered. Plus, my daughter's named Aviva, so really how could I not be in favor?!

Yes he would be expected to do the cooking. Sleep deprivation is not a good thing. With my son in the hospital I could not have coped with out extra time off. Seriously.

I think it is a wonderful scheme to offer employees. If all companies did it, it would reduce the discrimination women of childbearing age can face in getting a job.
However, if it was available to my dH I know we wouldn’t have taken it up. I EBF both babies, DH would have been bored all day, he wouldn’t have enjoyed baby classes or groups and would’ve been keen to go back to work!
What I would like to see more is equality in flexible working opportunities for women and men long-term to help with childcare once the mat leave period is over.

Would have loved this. My husband had to use holiday as men only get statutory pay where he works, even though the women get 6 months full pay! I don't think this is fair as he is the higher earner and we couldn't afford the drop in salary.

yeah my oh could be up for this, but I bet he would see it as a chance to do his own thing, study etc as he still has difficulty accepting the full time nature of parenting.
We went on holiday in the summer with my parents, he went fully expecting lie ins, time doing his own thing and a lot of new books to read. This is with my 2 year old and my 8 year old step daughter with moderate learning disabilities. My parents made up for the work needed so I could rest sometimes.
So I think some men might just see this as a breather from their paid job unfortunately

It sounds like a good idea in theory, but it would never have worked for us financially being paid only parental leave pay.

When all employers recognise the value of time spent as a family and the enormous change a new baby brings our whole society will begin to change for the better.

We expect women to work as though they don't have children and parent as though they don't have a job. Men are entirely immune to this.

I never wanted to 'share' my parental leave as in practice it meant giving it up and as a breastfeeding mother that was impossible. This sounds like the ideal solution and is something that my partner would gladly do.

More parental leave for the 2nd parent would be great, and we definitely would have taken this up.
I was not ready at all to look after my baby alone after two weeks off. Thankfully. I have family nearby, so did get extra support when DH had to go back to work.

I live in a rural area, and know that women who've had c-sections really struggle while they can't drive.
I'm sure breastfeeding rates and postnatal depression would both improve hugely if this kind of support was widely available.

Also agree with PP that it would go a long way to reducing gender discrimination from employers.

Due to have a planned c-section while we also have a toddler it would be incredible.

Really would love this to be a thing for everyone as it would change how people view hiring women. People move day this sort of discrimination won't happen but an ex boss was open about how he doesn't want to hire another woman in fertility years after the last two went on maternity leave within two years of starting. I only got hired as I was maternity cover and couldn't apply for it under how my contract worked.

It would also change the dynamics of family life as their wouldn't be the expectation that women have to maintain the house work and work life which hits many families.

There would be a better relationship between dad's and kids, a better understanding of how much work goes into being a stay at home parent and less likely to cause depression or loneliness for mums as they have someone to talk to.

There are so many benefits that we should change to the Danish system that both parents go on long leave - they have seen a positive change in so many ways.

My husband has had to save up all his holidays so is stressed... Just so he can make sure that I don't rip a stitch and can properly recover as we have no family close enough to help! Not everyone is lucky to have such a caring husband, or family around to help.

I think the issue is one of those issues that when it actually comes to the crunch, it turns out that

A) most women would rather not share their maternity leave by sharing it with a partner

B) most men would rather not have 6 months off work on paternity leave

My partner would definitely have taken the 6 months. Our baby is 5 months old and he's hated missing out on a lot of his firsts. I could've done with the extra help too, newborns are hard work!

I think it's a brilliant idea to have this option. It won't suit all family circumstances - it wouldn't have suited us because my husband was the only one in work and I solely breastfed. However, in this modern age there should be equality for everyone.

I would I think it's a great idea 💡

It’s great, but... I still see the majority of mums still taking the leave, especially if breast feeding