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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There shouldn't be any issues with affordability. I work for Aviva and the policy is 6 months leave on full pay, followed by 6 months on statutory pay, for both sexes. From what I've seen, most men take 6 months off.

This is not shared leave - this is in addition to any maternity leave the mother has. So no issues going back to work while breastfeeding as have mentioned.

Sounds fantastic. We looked into shared parental leave but, despite a year's full pay for mat leave at my husband's work place, shared parental leave was only 2 weeks full pay and then stat. I don't think we will ever have gender equality without sharing the job of early childcare.

My partner would love this. We have looked into shared parental leave and sadly can’t afford the unpaid part of the leave.

How wonderful to read this! It's great to see Aviva embrace the modern world & offer Dads this opportunity - I hope many other companies follow suit :)
We absolutely would have made the most of this opportunity - yes it would have been difficult financially, but you never, ever get that time back with your child - I was lucky enough to be able to enjoy a whole year off - but it would have helped the bonding between my LO & OH enormously to have been able to have this time together.
Well Done Aviva!!! :)

I think it would be great to have the option but I can't see it working for us. Definitely a good idea for some families though!

I think it would be great if it didn’t mean the mother had to give up some of her paid leave personally I wouldn’t have liked to go back earlier than I did but having my husband at home to help would have been great

We would have def used this (wish either of us had worked for companies with as generous leave conditions though!)

A nice idea as long as it's used for right reasons, and both parents do use it to parent.

My dp had two weeks off and when he went back I was scared but realised how lucky I was to be at home. I think it's amazing that a father can have this choice too. Especially as men aren't always the higher earners and helps the mother feel less guilty for returning back to work sooner.

I think in principle this is great the reality in the jobs that we both work in would’ve been impractical. I think pp have mentioned the physical toil of post birth recovery and breastfeeding which again will influence who gets to stay home with the family.

My husband can't breastfeed so I don't think this would have worked for my family. Nice to have the option though

Wow, the numbers really show that men will take parental leave when it's paid:

The policy offers equal parental leave to men and women working at Aviva - up to 12 months in the UK, including 26 weeks at full pay
New fathers at Aviva UK have taken an average of 21 weeks’ paternity leave since the policy was introduced, compared to two weeks in the previous year1
67% of Aviva UK new dads opted to take six months2 off work to care for their new arrivals
95% of Aviva UK new dads took more than two weeks, the entitlement typically offered through statutory paid paternity leave

Although we are not planning any more so would not directly benefit, I would be more interested in working for a company who did offer these benefits as I would expect the high proportion of dads taking leave to have positive impacts on all sorts of other areas.

My husband and I would certainly take it if offered - he can currently only take 2 weeks. I think it would make such a difference to the bonding between father and child and set a great precedent for sharing and equality early on. It could make a difference to the parents' relationship going forward too. Hopefully it's the way the world is heading.

Each to their own but it wouldn't work in our family. I like being the predominant carer, and We have a good set up.

Plus....Dread to think what my girls would be dressed in every day!!! Hahahahaha

I definitely would love to think that my partner could take that time off work, be my complete equal in being allowed that time to bond with the baby. Mothers have that chance to bond at such a high level, because we carry that baby, we literally share everything right up until birth. Giving dads that chance, even just for something like 4 months, minimum, would make such a dramatic difference in mums being able to physically and emotional manage/heal, as well as improve that crucial bonding between baby and father at the very start

My company offered this (but not Dps) and I think it’s great. It would really have helped bonding between dp and dc and given we had no family nearby at the time it would have helped us get organised for going back to work a bit better.

Why are people saying it's a great idea in principle but not financially viable? The father gets six months off, full pay, irrespective of the mother's leave situation.

It’s a no brainer as ling as it’s on top of anything the mother gets and doesn’t have to be subtracted from it.

Wonderful policy Aviva. Wish more employers did the same. We did shared parental leave with both our children. My husband really enjoyed his three months off with them, and I think it gives an insight into the reality of life with small children like no other

I think it's a fantastic idea. My DH would have jumped at the chance but we just couldn't afford for him to have more than 2 weeks.

It should be equal and at least part of it should also be compulsory. That way employers have no excuse to think women will get pregnant and not employ them.

Like others have said, in principle it sounds good though in reality I'm not sure how many men would go for it. Plus it's not always that simple. Would both parents be off at the same time? Is that affordable? If it's the dad off instead of the mum what about breastfeeding?

My DH had 4 weeks off when DS was born - 2 weeks paternity & 2 weeks annual leave. It was great, though it did fly by! Saying that it was nice when he went back to work and we got into a proper little routine. It worked well for us.

It would've been great with DD2 who spent most of the first 6 months in hospital, but with DC 1 or 3 it would've been a bit pointless. Would probably have hindered me making friends with similar aged babies etc too and made it harder to adjust to when he did go back to work.

Great idea. My husband would have loved this.

I'm for more men spending time with babies but I'm wary of the effect on mum's time off and think it would have a negative effect on breastfeeding. eg to make it 'fair' mum and dad share leave baby gets put on bottles