Shared Parental Leave (SPL) has failed to encourage fathers to take more or longer leave, new research suggests, prompting calls for reform of the policy. Introduced in April 2015, SPL was designed to enable parents to share childcare responsibilities, giving fathers a greater role at home and encouraging mothers to return to work sooner. But new research from economists at the Department of Economics and the Institute of Policy Research (IPR) at the University of Bath and Cardiff University shows that the policy has failed to deliver. Workplace Insight has tracked the legislation’s rocky journey over the past nine years. You can see our coverage here.

A new study using data from 40,000 UK households has found that SPL has not affected the number of fathers taking leave or the length of leave they take. The study compared families with children born before and after the introduction of SPL and the results are clear – the number of people taking paternity leave has not increased, nor has the length of leave.

The survey findings are timely given the new Labour government’s Manifesto commitment to review the parental leave system within its first year in office. The previous government’s own assessment of SPL, published last year, found that only 1 per cent of eligible mothers and 5 per cent of eligible fathers took it up.

Following research, IPR has issued a policy brief with three key recommendations that could increase the uptake of Shared Parental Leave. They are:

1. Improve financial conditions: UK maternity leave is already one of the worst paid in the OECD, and SPL pay is even lower. If families are to benefit from SPL, the financial incentives need to be better.
2. Simplify the system and provide legal support:The current system is too complicated and difficult to navigate. Combining SPL with legal support for parents and employers could help.
3. Relaxation of eligibility criteria: Strict rules on how long parents have to work for the same employer and how much they earn make it harder for some to gain qualifications. Easing these restrictions could encourage more fathers to take leave