CONCLUSIONS
The aim of this report was to establish if the amount of statutory leave taken varied according to gender.
The findings of this research would suggest that it does, with females taking more statutory leave than men. In fact women took more of every type of leave except for shared parental leave, but this is not surprising given its interaction with maternity and adoption leave. But it would be rash to make general assumptions as to the reasons behind this. It’s possible of course that the simplest explanation is the true one, that in the case of sick leave for example, men really are unwell less often than women. However, the reasons why men take less statutory leave than women are likely to be much more complex, only established by further, more in depth, research. We know from gender pay gap statistics that men tend to earn more than women, with the government’s own statistics 2 reporting that median pay for all employees was 17.9% less for women than for men at April 2018. With statutory leave paid at a much lower rate than most workers’ actual rate of pay it may be that finances determine which partner takes time off work. But perhaps parents take a more longer-term view than the immediate impact of statutory payment rates. This same government research highlights a gradual widening in the pay gap between mothers and fathers after the arrival of the first child, reflected in a widening gap in the amount of time spent in the workplace. However, it is equally possible that parents still hold to the traditional view that childcare is a mother’s role and that financial implications are less of a factor. But with the government itself so concerned about the low take-up of shared parental leave that it launched a media campaign 3 to raise awareness and increase participation it will be interesting to see if the legislative framework is tweaked to make shared parental pay more generous at some point in the future.
In the meantime, it will be interesting to see if ongoing case law has an impact on what action the government takes next.
2. http://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN07068/SN07068.pdf 3. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-share-the-joy-campaign-promotes-shared-parental-leave-rights-for-parents
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