Paternity leave ‘shockingly low’ at several UK universities

Campaigners are pushing for universities to increase paternity leave to a minimum of six weeks on full pay, describing current policies at many institutions as “shocking” and lagging behind other industries.

An audit of paternity leave entitlements across the sector shows many universities continue to offer new dads little more than their legal obligations, with precarity and overwork adding to the difficulties many face.

The annual University and College Union (UCU) congress recently backed a motion calling for universities to offer six weeks of “well-paid” paternity leave – mirroring the main ask of campaign group the Fatherhood Institute.

Jeremy Davies, deputy CEO at the organisation and founder of the “six weeks for dads campaign”, said he was “shocked by how few universities and HEIs were offering better than the statutory minimum” paternity leave.

“The motherhood penalty continues to restrict women’s progress in academia, and among support staff. We know that closing the gap between mothers’ and fathers’ parental leave offers is key to addressing this,” he said.

While most institutions offer enhanced paternity pay – meaning staff are typically paid their full salary rather than being paid statutory paternity pay, which is either the lowest option between £194.32 a week or 90 per cent of an employee’s average weekly earnings – the majority of universities offer only two weeks.

Times Higher Education found that several universities offer just one week on enhanced paternity pay, and one week on statutory, including the University of the West of England, Ulster, Worcester, Wolverhampton, Loughborough, Aston and Glasgow Caledonian universities. 

Most universities offer two weeks of leave at full pay, including Nottingham and Sussex. A range offered between three and four weeks of enhanced pay (Cardiff and Queen Margaret University, for example), and a limited number offer six weeks (York, Exeter and King’s College London).

University of the Arts London has the most generous paternity leave policy in the sector. In what it describes as a “sector-leading” approach, it offers “equal parental leave”, where those taking maternity and paternity leave are both entitled to 26 weeks leave on full pay. It applies to all staff that have worked at the university for at least six months.

UCL tripled its paternity leave entitlement on full pay from four weeks to 12 weeks in May, making it one of the UK sector’s most generous employers. The universities of Oxford and  Cambridge also offer 12 weeks at enhanced pay.

Several companies in the UK, such as chocolate brand Mars and drinks company Diageo now offer fathers six months off on full pay, while many technology companies such as Google and Meta are famed for their generous approach to paternity leave. 

Mark Gatto, an assistant professor at Northumbria University who helped spearhead the UCU motion, said that poor paternity policies are “damaging”, and create a “fork in the road” between men’s and women’s careers.

Gatto, who first became a father in 2019 when he was completing his PhD, said higher education faces various unique challenges related to paternity pay, noting that PhD candidates are typically not entitled to the same rights as permanent staff.

The ubiquity of precarious contracts mean men can also be deterred from taking their entitlement, Gatto added, with a wider “patriarchal culture” in higher education meaning “many senior male academics don’t talk about what it means to be a dad in higher education”.  

He feared that the current financial position of universities “could make it harder” to fight for increased paternity leave, but said “a lot of the time we’re talking about a minuscule fraction of a budget for it to have a significant impact on an employee”.

Gatto hoped that the UCU motion will help support local branches to fight for better paternity leave policies as well as launch a national campaign. More widely, he thinks the UK is at a “once in a generational opportunity” to fight for greater paternity leave policies, thanks to growing political pressure from campaign groups.

Clare Matysova, programme manager for EDI at Health Data Research, said the “increasing number of staff on precarious contracts” limits their parental leave entitlement as many universities stipulate staff must have worked at the institution for a set period – typically six or 12 months – before they qualify.

While the Athena Swan charter, which gives universities accreditation for progressing gender equality in the workplace, previously had a specific section on maternity and paternity leave, the 2021 reforms saw this removed, stifling incentives for universities to address such policies, she said.

“It feels like a bit of a missed opportunity, because I do think the Athena Swan has got that potential because it is a structured way of trying to address gender inequalities,” she said, adding that she believes universities are “not making that connection” between parental leave policies and their wider gendered implications on staff’s careers.

Matysova, who sits on Athena Swan panels, anecdotally said she has seen fewer applications referring to parental policies as a result of the changes. 

Gatto, whose partner is their main earner, took shared parental leave after the birth of his second child, which allowed him to take six months off, and said it was “transformational”.

“That time with my daughter was incredibly special, and something I’ll look back on for the rest of my life. I just think I’m lucky to be able to take that time, whereas other men are not in that position,” he said.

juliette.rowsell@timeshighereducation.com