Daddy Dearest

A new poll published by Aviva this Wednesday suggests that there has been a ten-fold rise in stay-at-home dads over the past decade. With the election campaign in full swing and each party keen to win over the ‘mums net’ and ‘motorway man’ vote, all the main parties are advocating more flexible working despite the very challenging economic and jobs market. Of course there are differences in the approaches of the main parties – particularly around sharing maternity leave and who should have the right to request flexible working. But one thing that remains the same is that when politicians use ‘parents’, they are really thinking about ‘mums’.

The introduction of paid paternity leave in the UK is a fantastic achievement, but it’s only two weeks, whilst paid maternity leave is nine months. We know who policy makers think should be at home. And most ‘family friendly’ proposals still imply that whilst roles are changing men are the primary breadwinners and women the primary carers. We will only see major changes in the way jobs and home life work together when men are routinely able to, and then actually make, the same kinds of changes to their working lives as women do when they become parents. Unless men are able and prepared to step up, we will always have a gender pay gap and women will always play second fiddle in the work place.

Kate Stanley