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New research published by University College London (UCL) suggests the government’s Shared Parental Leave (SPL) scheme has failed to be popular as taking advantage of the entitlement is not a financially viable option for most new parents.
So far, uptake of the UK’s SPL scheme has been poor. Figures showed that only 9,200 parents shared their leave in 2017 - 500 more than the previous year - indicating that since its launch in 2015, just 2% of those eligible to take part have actively chosen to do so.
UCL’s study of data gathered from two antenatal clinics in London between November 2016 and January 2017 found that the negative financial implications of taking part in SPL was cited as the top reason for choosing to opt out of the scheme. 50% of those surveyed said SPL did not make financial sense for them, 36% thought it would negatively impact on the father’s career, and 24% said it would inhibit the mother’s ability to breastfeed.
UCL’s results also discovered SPL’s strict eligibility criteria was another factor which created an additional barrier, preventing many new parents from using it. A survey of 575 expectant parents revealed that while 61% knew about SPL, just 57% were eligible as to qualify. Typical reasons for ineligibility were parents being self-employed or not having worked for long enough for their current employer.
Katherine Twamley, senior lecturer at UCL, described SPL in the UK as ‘quite restrictive’ compared to other countries and has urged the government to remove ‘needless’ barriers to sharing leave by rethinking the policy to encourage its use: “To increase take up, it needs to be better remunerated and there needs to be an individual entitlement” she has said.
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