Page 4 | Would renaming maternity leave as parental leave help change perceptions?

classicslove · 2026-05-28T18:29:29+00:00

I've never posted on this board but something has just got me thinking about the way maternity leave is perceived in the UK. Surely one way to change this is to rename it as Parental Leave more in line with the Swedish system with a set amount of time for the mother to recover and the rest split between both parents. Details are not as simple as this but surely while it is still called Maternity it is assumed that it is solely the females responsibility in the thought process of the general public and in particular men and employers, whatever the law actually says.

IwantToRetire · 21/06/2026 01:49

...

Cheeseandolivesplease · 21/06/2026 02:09

My husband took "leave" in a different way which worked so well for us. I had a pretty rough mat leave tbh (which I knew would be my last) as our baby was born in 2020 at the peak of Covid so was pleased in a way to return to work after my year was up.
When I returned to work my husband requested if he could take one day off a week (unpaid, of course) so he could have a weekly Daddy Day with our daughter whilst I was at work. The only thing he couldn't do was breastfeed her - that was sorted as soon as I got home!
This arrangement continued until just before our daughter turned 2 - he had his day off for a full year.
We are by no means wealthy - not by any stretch of the imagination - so had to tighten our belts for that one day he wasn't working, but of course it meant no childcare costs on his day.
His employers were great to afford him that option and he embraced it.
It was absolutely one of the best decisions we ever made as a family. My husband would have jumped at the opportunity to have become a ft SAHD (whereas the choice to be a SAHM would definitely not be one I'd consider!)

ByQuaintAzureWasp · 21/06/2026 02:43

We already have parental leave ... most underused leave ever!

BrownBookshelf · 21/06/2026 08:22

As well as us already having parental leave, I think the difficulty with OPs proposal is it's not clear whether any use it or lose it for dads would be additional to current entitlements, rather than being taken from what women are already entitled to.

Niteowll · 30/08/2026 21:02

PoppinjayPolly · 28/05/2026 19:33

Actually relax… pahhh! 🤪
would you also like the maternity ward changed to parents ward?

Probably 🙄

Grammarnut · 31/08/2026 21:35

classicslove · 28/05/2026 21:24

Yes of course there is the option of share leave but how many women would actually say 'I'm on parental leave' rather than 'I'm on maternity leave'. Also the uptake currently of shared parental leave is incredibly low at between 2 and 5%.
In order to effect real change we need to normalise the idea that having children is the responsibility of both parents from the outset. If you believe that both partners need to take equal responsibility for children's upbringing and employers need to treat both parents equally in terms of career progression (because whatever the law states, you cannot police peoples thoughts) then those ideals need to be clear from the start.
One of the biggest problems in my view is that currently the overwhelming male view is that their world/role will not change significantly after having children.This needs to change and by changing the title to Parental from Maternity after a set period before and directly after birth, would go some way to addressing this issue.
This is not about devaluing women's role in the birthing process but changing society's attitudes to childcare responsibilities ans the view of women in the workplace.

We need the workplace, qualifications, promotion etc to take account of women's unique role in reproduction. So, ability to defer qualifications whilst having children, counting rearing children and running a home as part of employment experience (because it is), part-time work (if desired) a right, fathers to have equivalent paternity leave which does not cut into the mother's leave, childcare time built into employment practice as it is in other countries, facilities for parents and children to encourage one parent to be at home for the formative early years e.g. like Sure Start (that the stupid Tories axed), the state to give support to children via a payment directly to mothers (family allowance, paid regardless of family income to all mothers for all children). Employers should remember that if women don't have children then their industry is down the pan in a generation because there will be no customers. Perhaps we should all emulate Lysistrata and persevere (Lysistrata and her colleagues gave in, very foolishly IMO, but the play was written by a man...). The world would fall down.

Cheeseandolivesplease · Yesterday 20:18

Grammarnut · 31/08/2026 21:35

We need the workplace, qualifications, promotion etc to take account of women's unique role in reproduction. So, ability to defer qualifications whilst having children, counting rearing children and running a home as part of employment experience (because it is), part-time work (if desired) a right, fathers to have equivalent paternity leave which does not cut into the mother's leave, childcare time built into employment practice as it is in other countries, facilities for parents and children to encourage one parent to be at home for the formative early years e.g. like Sure Start (that the stupid Tories axed), the state to give support to children via a payment directly to mothers (family allowance, paid regardless of family income to all mothers for all children). Employers should remember that if women don't have children then their industry is down the pan in a generation because there will be no customers. Perhaps we should all emulate Lysistrata and persevere (Lysistrata and her colleagues gave in, very foolishly IMO, but the play was written by a man...). The world would fall down.

Edited

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Running the home can be done equally by men and women (as it should be). And I assume you mean make part-time work a right for both men and women equally too?

TaraRhu · Today 16:23

I agree but moreover i'd stop saying WORKING MOTHERS... it's working PARENTS! I'm so sick of news and articles that say 'busy working mothers' as it just lumps all the responsibility with the mums.