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Two In Three Britons Want Higher Paternity Pay To Boost Equal Childcare, Poll Finds

Two in three Britons think that more government cash should be spent on helping men to take an equal share of childcare and care for elderly parents, a new poll has found.

The figure rises to 76% in former “Red Wall” parliamentary seats that switched from Labour to the Tories at the last election, according to the survey by pollsters Survation.

Both findings are contained in a new report by the Commission on a Gender-Equal Economy, which calls for sweeping changes to UK policy on welfare, tax and social policy, including a proposal to put paternity leave on the same legal footing as maternity leave.

The study, “Creating a Caring Economy: A Call to Action”, recommends universal free childcare, a universal basic income for all pensioners, independent taxation of income for partners and a corporation tax of 24% to help fund the changes.

In the UK paternity leave lasts for just two weeks, while maternity leave lasts up to a year. Although shared parental leave was introduced by the Tory-Lib Dem coalition, its pay rates are so low that just 2% of eligible couples used it last year.

The policy allows couples to share up to 50 weeks of leave and 37 weeks of statutory shared parental pay between them, but at a maximum rate of £151.20 per week that many find impossible to live on.

In its report, the Commission - set up by the Womens’ Budget Group in early 2019 - calls for “equal legal entitlements to paid caring leave for all employees and self-employed people”.

Just 208,000 fathers claimed paternity pay last year, compared to 649,000 women who received maternity pay.

Some companies such as insurance giant Zurich UK have been leading the way, offering 16 weeks full pay to both mothers and fathers, but campaigners say government needs to step in to equalise rights.

Zurich revealed on Tuesday that almost three-quarters (70%) of its employees who have become new fathers take advantage of its new paternity benefit, with most taking at least three months of leave.

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