What is shared parental leave?

The benefits of shared parental leave.

1. It boost your child’s physical and mental wellbeing

There are so many benefits to shared parental leave, and one that cannot go ignored is its hugely positive impact on your children’s wellbeing. With statutory maternity and paternity leave, caregiving often falls to mothers who are given more time off work to look after their children, however, if you are in a two parent household having both parents at home can be transformative to a child’s life, especially during early development. With shared parental leave, fathers/partners are given the opportunity to be there for their children, something that will positively shape their relationship for the rest of their lives. Studies have shown that having a more involved Dad massively contributes to children’s overall wellbeing including their social, emotional, and cognitive development [3]. And these benefits continue to have an effect well into adulthood; children who have a close relationship with their Fathers grow up to be twice as likely to go to university or find a stable job, 75% less likely to have a teenage pregnancy, 80% less likely to spend time in jail and 50% less likely to suffer from depression [4]. But to form this close relationship in childhood, fathers benefit from time away from work to bond with their children during those all-important early stages.

2. It allows parents to share the mental load of parenting

These health benefits are not exclusive to Fathers; when Dads stay at home and are more involved in infant care, Mums suffer less from depression [5] and benefit from increased wellbeing three months after the birth [5]. Sharing parental leave also allows couples to navigate early parenthood together and create a supportive dynamic where they are both involved in the care of their children. This reduces the mental load of caregiving which all too often falls to the Mother. As Social Sciences expert Erin Rehel explains, “extended [parental] leave challenges the perceived naturalness of women’s superior parenting capabilities by providing men with time to develop a similar sense of parenting through hands-on experience.” When parenting is shared, men develop greater confidence and skill in their parenting, leading to greater Father involvement later on and allowing couples to “move beyond a ‘manager-helper’ style of parenting and towards a ‘co-parenting’ relationship” [6].

3. It contributes to social change

The traditional model of leave-taking often leads to a gendered division of labour where the majority of childcare and household chores fall to the Mother. When leave is shared and a co-parenting dynamic is established, it contributes to gender equality in heterosexual relationships, challenges traditional gender roles and stereotypes, and promotes work-life balance for parents of all genders. By allowing both parents to have time off work, shared parental leave encourages a more equitable division of childcare and supports the notion that parenting is a shared responsibility. It also allows mothers to return to work sooner. Currently, 85% of women leave the full-time workforce three years after having children, in comparison to the 2% that actually want to [7]. With shared parental leave, more Mothers have the choice to return to work while Fathers stay at home creating a more equal and diverse workforce and reducing the gender pay gap which almost doubles between the 30s and 40s (when many people start their families) [8]. One study found that Mothers’ income rose by 7% for every month that Fathers spent on leave, and that Mothers had more motivation to work and to stay in the same job for longer when Fathers took leave [9] 

4. It’s beneficial to fathers’ mental wellbeing

Father-child bonding is not just important for children, but for Fathers as well. Having a healthy, intimate relationship with your baby can be hugely beneficial to your own mental wellbeing and can even impact your physical health – studies have shown that fathers who take longer leave after the birth of their babies have a lowered risk of developing alcohol-related problems and an overall reduced risk of early death. [5]

5. With shared parental leave, together we can grow a generation of equals

At not only pink and blue we are passionate about breaking down gender stereotypes in childhood to create a more equal society for future generations. Shared parental leave can be a tool for change as it gives parents of all genders the opportunity to model both professional working and domestic caring behaviours. The traditional leave-taking model reinforces gender stereotypes wherein Mothers are expected to adopt a homemaking role while Fathers return to work. Exposure to these binaries shapes your child’s perception of gender from a young age and follows them into adulthood, which can impact their aspirations and their expectations of themselves and of others based on gender alone. By taking shared parental leave and transgressing traditional gender roles, you will expose your children to non-stereotypical behaviour, altering their perception of what it means to be a mother or father. This exposure can have a huge impact on their futures; when Fathers stay at home more, their daughters end up doing less housework [5] and by age 12, sons and daughters exhibit more egalitarian attitudes towards gender roles and engage in more non-stereotypical behaviour day to day [10]