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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Sounds a great idea and would suit lots. Only drawback I think is obviously being unpaid- which restricts most people. However, it’s your choice to have children so Why should employers pay...

@dannydog1 Read the OP again. It's paid leave, and does not require the mother to give up any of her leave!

www.aviva.com/newsroom/news-releases/2018/11/avivas-paid-parental-leave-shows-men-are-eager-to-share-childcare-duties/

* 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 year
* 67% of Aviva UK new dads opted to take six months 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

It does sound like a good idea, it’s definitely good for tricky births and unexpected circumstances, so I think it’s a good idea.

It’s a great idea but most can’t afford to if it means being paid statutory pay as it’s so much lower than actual pay

I think it's a great opportunity for parents to share the leave however works best for them. Many women who have given birth are the breadwinners or would prefer to return to work a little earlier which gives the other partner a chance to have some time at home with the child. It's also nice that both parents can have an extended period of leave together if they wish.

Thank you!

This would be great if it works out financially. Iv missed the boat but can see it benefiting many families to share this precious time bonding with the babies.

In theory this seems like a good policy. However, personally, I'd hate being off work for that long at the same time as my partner!

I think equal parental leave is a fantastic idea. If my husband was able to he'd jump at the chance. It's a wonderful way to spend quality time with your child and enjoy the day to day experience,not just at weekends and holidays.

It's great that the option is there for those who want to take it, and for whom it works financially. Things have certainly changed from my day, when my DH had one day off for the birth of each of our children, and his employers considered themselves generous for paying him!

This is a fantastic idea and more companies should do this.

The pressure for one partner (usually the man) to go back to work straight away means that one person misses out on the experience of a new child, and the other one deals with it all.

In general, society doesn't recognise SAHPs as doing anything 'worthwhile' and this ridiculous notion has to change.

This is the opinion held largely by men (who make up most of the workforce) because they have absolutely no idea how much work is involved in raising a child. Because they went back to work after two weeks.

Giving BOTH parents longer leave would take the pressure off one partner that would otherwise carry all the workload of a newborn plus running the household, and also relieve the other of having to carry the financial load.

What Aviva are doing is a really important step towards changing the outdated system we have at the moment.

Wow this is really showing up how poor many people's reading comprehension is!!!! Every negative response is from someone who thinks this is shared parental leave.

Brilliant policy Aviva, can't imagine why anyone wouldn't take up six months leave on full pay that doesn't affect the mother's entitlement. I would love to see this more widely available.

Sooo anyone know of any jobs at Aviva?????

It's a good idea and it would be good if it starts to be taken up

My dh had a few months off paid when I had twins as it was the recession and he worked for a consultancy. They offered voluntary redundancy to everyone but he didn't take it. It made a big difference to the way he bonded with the babies to have all that time with them and a big difference to me too.

This is a great idea in principal but does require babies to be bottle fed, or dad to be off at the same time as mum, which kind of defeats the purpose. My DH is part time now so spends more time with this baby than with her older brother as he worked fulltime for his first year. My employer was surprised that so few parents where I work are doing shared parental leave but it seems difficult to sort out. The idea of two sets of HR departments being involved makes my heart sink. I have to go back to work FT anyway so baby will spend more time with her dad than with me anyway, plus a few days in nursery. My DH is thrilled to have the chance for such 1:1 time with his daughter though and recognises that not many dads get it.

A great idea but it needs buy in from employers.

My employer was surprised that so few parents where I work are doing shared parental leave but it seems difficult to sort out. The idea of two sets of HR departments being involved makes my heart sink.

I don't know whether my DH's employer (a school) were just unusually good and clued up about it (though he's only the second teacher to take SPL there), but it really hasn't been a hassle - he filled in a form and that was it. For my employer it makes no difference at all because I'm just ending my maternity leave - maybe it's more complicated if you want to both be off at the same time, or to take staggered blocks?

I agree with many others ... it is a great idea in theory, it may be an uphill battle actually getting uptake. But I agree that we would be a better society of both partners were allowed to take parental leave and it didn't wipe out the mother's leave.

I'm torn on this one to be honest. From a completely selfish point of view I think if I've had the pregnancy and the labour, I deserve the time off as a reward. I also think it's worth baring in mind that maternity leave for many women is also spent recovering from birth injuries or a c-section.

However I think a lot of household inequalities begin during mat leave when the mum takes on a lot more of the household/parenting work because they're 'off work' and then find that it doesn't revert back to shared responsibility once mum returns to work. I also think it would really be beneficial to dads who miss out on so much during that first year.

I wouldn't want my husband to ask me to go back to work so he could stay home...I expect some husbands or partners would indeed ask that.

I wouldn't want my husband to ask me to go back to work so he could stay home...I expect some husbands or partners would indeed ask that.

Well, I suppose my DH did ask that, as he first suggested SPL. Why is that so awful? He asked, he didn't demand. Why should deciding on the care of our baby be something he can't even ask to be part of?

DH would've taken this I'm sure. It's a great idea and would've been a huge help to share the night duties and early starts! DD was born in June so looking after her and DS(5) was quite a shock and hard work! Would also have been handy for taking DS to school. Jealous of Aviva employees who are able to take advantage to be honest!

Great to have more choices! Anything that helps to even the playing field is a good thing. I wish more employers would offer this, so that it became common-place.

I would have liked it if DP could have taken 6 months off when I went back to work, rather than on maternity leave (wouldn't see the point in both of us being off at once).

However, I doubt he would have & it would certainly have been looked at disapprovingly by his employer.

My partner did not take his full paternity leave as he was training to be a surgeon. I don’t think it is realistic for people to take so much time off work. I went back after 4 months because I was concerned about becoming deskilled
If you are self employed there is no such thing as leave on full pay