PRESS RELEASE 25 November 1998

Paid Parental Leave

In today's debate in Parliament on the work of the DTI, the Low Pay Unit urges MPs and the Government to reconsider the issue of unpaid parental leave, as proposed in the Fairness at Work White Paper.

The Unit believes that parental leave must be paid- as it is in most other countries in Europe- if it is to be of any benefit, in particular for low paid families.

If parental leave is to work for low paid families, the Government should consider the following:

• Any leave from work must be statutory and paid
• It must replace earnings of the individual worker
• The state should have the responsibility to fund paid parental leave.

Bharti Patel, the director of the Low Pay Unit, said:

"For many low paid workers, who often work very long hours to earn a living wage and meet their family responsibilities, paid parental leave would be the only way they could afford to take time off work to look after their children. If the Government is serious about its 'family-friendly' policies, it needs to recognise that Britain's fathers work an average of 47 hours a week and that a right to leave for both parents is vital if caring responsibilities are to be shared more between men and women."

For further information call:
Bharti Patel, Director - 0171 713 7616 (work) 07887 643 750 (mobile)
Nick Burkitt, Researcher - 0171 713 7616 (work)

Note for editors: The EU Parental Leave Directive, to be implemented by December 1999, gives the right to three months' leave for men and women when they have a baby or adopt, and to time off for urgent family reasons.