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

I hope one day all companies adopt the same policy as Aviva.

It would have a huge positive impact on families and family wellbeing.

I went beck to work two weeks after giving birth and DH has taken SPL, the money lost is completely worth it, he has bonded like he never did with the other children, our Benny is only three months now but they have such a strong bond to reach other, and our toddler has also become much more reliant on DH, close to him and connected with him, he no longer always demands "mummy" which he used to do.

Disclaimer: I work from home before anyone calls me heartless for going back to work with a two week old. I'm still at home at day with both the baby and the toddler, but dh does all the day to day looking after the baby while I'm working, but we share the feeds and I express so still ebf.

It had been so amazing having him home and has really benefited our family.

I think it is important to offer this but don't know many who have taken it up. It could work well I think though.

It is a great idea and one that would work well. However I wanted to have all the time with my baby (and we didn’t have that option)!

Such a great idea. What's the point in striving for equality in the workplace if we don't expect it to work both ways?? My workplace has an excellent approach to shared parental leave, and over the years I've seen more and more fathers take advantage of it (I'm a manager so regularly approve requests). The change in attitude towards fathers taking leave has been marked, and really positive.

In principle this is a fantastic idea, although may not work for all. Had this been available to my husband and I we would certainly have utilised this benefit. Due to a traumatic birth I was unable to walk without excruciating pain for 12 weeks and still have issues six months later. The support for both myself and our son would have been invaluable.

I'm on maternity leave now and I would have loved for DH to be home with us, he misses out on so much.

I don't think many small companies could afford this,who would fund it? I think it would be unfair on small businesses,but would make older people 60 + attractive employees.

I think this is so needed . My partner would have loved this. 2 weeks just isn't enough and I feel it would help alot of men bond with their babies quicker . I know this is very much a norm in some other countries.

When I had my little girl I wished my partner could have taken off more time, although it was the busiest time of year t work for him, so even if he could have taken more time off I don’t think he would have.

If he could take more time off full pay if we have another child I think he would although not as long as six months. I struggled a lot when our little girl was born with my mental health and having him at home longer I think would have definitely helped me in that respect.

Shared Parental Leave is still not fair - it should give men the same rights as maternity leave. My husband took SPL (I returned to work very quickly) but despite working for local government he got the same as SMP for 6 months while females in the organisation got an enhanced package. This was 18 months ago.

I shared my maternity leave with my husband as I thought it was an important opportunity for him to bond with our son. I returned to work after 5 months, but I would have preferred way more time.

In theory a good idea. It might work for some parents but not for all.

I think it looks really good. SPL, in my experience only works for families where parents are equal earners or the mum earns more. As mum is likely to take the first portion of time, and dad the second, and most pay offers from employers decrease over the time period (100% for the first 6 weeks, 50% up to 6 months etc), families take a bigger financial hit if dad wants to use the last 3 months, say, but is a significantly bigger earner.

It looks like a viva have clocked this inequality; good for them. I hope others catch on.

It's great that there's the option now, but personally I didn't want to share my leave!

In the grand scheme of things it can only be a positive move.
It could help so many families, not just with bonding and more equal care for the newborn, but in support of the mothers recovery and also enables the 2nd parent to be more present for any other children during the transition through the newborn stages.

We would have loved this. We were living abroad when DS was born (now back in Scotland) so DH got three days paternity leave and I got four months (three months partially paid, and I took an extra month unpaid). While my return to work wasn't too bad (mainly due to an extremely understanding boss and reduced hours), we would all have benefited from extra parental leave - especially in the early days when it would have been lovely to be able to hole up a bit more as a three, and when we all needed just that little bit more sleep. Have to confess that this policy would definitely make me take a much closer look at Aviva for employment opportunities -already surfing their careers webpage-.

I think it's great as long as I don't have to share the leave I have.

The idea of it sounds great but for many people the financial reality of it makes it a no-go. We run our own business so we certainly couldn't afford for both of us to be away from it - I had a section both times and problems after, which meant that I was in for 6 days. When I did eventually come home - my husband took one day off with me and then that was it - back to work he went! We just had to get our heads down and get on with it - but to be honest, our children now have that attitude and aren't fazed by much in life.

Hi all, thanks for your posts. We have some more information below from Anthony Fitzpatrick from Aviva:

"Hi everyone, thanks for your comments. It’s great to see there’s so much interest in parental leave!

I’m responsible for employment policy at Aviva and I hoped it might be useful to clarify a few things. We give all parents – dads and mums – the same entitlement to parental leave, with no need to share. In the UK this means up to 12 months for all parents, including six months at full pay. So hopefully this removes financial barriers that may prevent people taking parental leave.

Unlike shared parental leave, dads who work for Aviva can take time off without using any of their partner’s parental leave entitlement - and they can take time off while the mum is on her maternity leave too.

I hope this helps to make things a bit clearer.

All the best, Anthony."

Two weeks of statutory paternal leave is pathetic. I had a C-section and was stuck indoors being unable to drive for 6 weeks after the birth. I was climbing the walls, and with it being my first child I was also petrified at the thought of having to deal with her on my own only 2 weeks after the birth. I was still struggling with breastfeeding at that point and sleep certainly wasn't easy either ... that only settled down about 4 months after she was born! My husband hated having to leave us so soon and I hated to see him go ... there was so much in those early days I would have given anything to be able to share with him. I did enquire about shared parental leave but ended up with new mum guilt as it would have required me to give up time with my daughter to pass it to him, and I couldn't do that.

I think Aviva's policy where you don't have to share your time and men are allowed the same paid time as women is fantastic, and I know without a doubt my husband would have taken it in a heartbeat had it been offered, though once pay stopped he would probably have had to go back to work as we found it hard managing in the months when only I was off unpaid, let alone neither of us bringing a paycheck in for the last months of the maternity/paternity year.

It would have given him precious time to spend with his new baby girl in the most important first few months of her life, and would have allowed me to get a bit more sleep in a time when you're full of hormones, doubting yourself and still battered and bruised from the birth. I'm willing to bet it would help reduce post-natal depression cases if it was introduced nationally ... those early days I had to lean heavily on family and NCT friends and helplines. It would have been so great to have my husband there to share the tougher times - and the beautiful ones too.

My initial thought was that it would have been anazing but we would not have been able to afford it both being on statutory pay for 6 months. However I think we would have been able to save enough over the 9 months before to cover it. So yes would have been fab!

Yes, definitely! We would both love it if he could spend more time with the baby when he’s born. Unfortunately, he can only afford a few days off.