POLICY TALK

Spotlight on: Paternity Leave

All three parties are vying for the "family" vote. Last week, the government announced that fathers will be able to take up to six months off on paternity leave, while their baby's mother returns to work.

Fathers are currently entitled to two weeks paid paternity leave. Under Labour's changes, which will apply to babies born after April 2011, that will continue; but, after the mother has spent six months of her nine-month entitlement, she will be able to return to work, thereby allowing the father to do the last three months. He would receive statutory paternity pay (either £123.06 per week, or 90 per cent of his average gross weekly earnings, whichever is lower). He would then be able to spend a further three months off unpaid.

David Cameron voted against paid paternity leave in 2001, but the Tories now say mothers and fathers should be able to split paid leave. Under their plans, women would be expected to take the first 14 weeks of leave, but the remaining 38 weeks could be taken by either parent.

The Lib Dems would go further, introducing a new entitlement called "parental leave," giving parents total flexibility on how to divide the time off between them. It would be extended to 19 months, though neither individual parent could take more than a year off.

Critics say much of this is "gesture politics". In reality, few men are likely to take up longer paternity leave. Ministers expect only four to eight per cent of those eligible to take the extra time. That will be a relief to small businesses, who say they cannot bear more regulation when the economy is struggling.