Brits don’t like UK’s statutory parental leave

Almost 25 million Brits believe the UK’s current Statutory Paternity Leave (SPL) policy, is ‘less than adequate’, new research has found.

The study was compiled by online printing specialists instantprint, explored how Brits felt about the current maternity and paternity packages offered to them by the government.

Expecting dads can take up to two weeks of SPL which is paid at a rate of £156.66, or 90% of your average weekly earnings (whichever is lower). Shared parental leave is also available to new parents who can receive pay for the first 39 weeks of this.
The UK’s Statutory Adoption Leave allows to 52 weeks off work, with some pay for 39 weeks. According to the findings, four in ten of those surveyed (40%) said they believe the current renumeration packages for Statutory Maternity and Paternity Leave are ‘less than adequate’.

Laura Mucklow, Head of instantprint, said: “It’s clear to see that not all countries are built equal when it comes to their government’s policies on maternity and paternity leave, with some countries offering no official policies at all versus others letting new parents over a year off to be with their child.

Following the results of their survey, instantprint were also eager to highlight which countries around the world were the best for working parents when comparing government policies with average costs of living and childcare for 31 different countries across the world.

The rankings found that Sweden is the best country for working parents in 2022.

Sweden does not have Statutory Maternity or Paternity Leave, instead offering Shared Parental Leave which is set at 240 days (34 weeks) per parent – so a total of 480 days can be distributed between the parents accordingly.

Joining Sweden in the top five were Bulgaria, Hungary, Finland, and Romania.

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