On 5 April 2015, parents of newborn babies or children matched or placed for adoption were able to choose for the first time whether they wanted to share the mother’s maternity leave.

At the time, Government Ministers claimed Shared Parental Leave (SPL) would give parents “real choice” for the first time. Unequal division of childcare responsibilities has historically been a key driver of gender inequality and the gender pay gap and the new laws were introduced to challenge ‘archaic assumptions’ about childcare responsibilities.

But ten years on, what impact has it had on parents and children? Can one change in the law have a real impact on structural inequalities in the labour market and wider society?

A 2023 evaluation report from the Department for Business and Trade found that, among eligible couples, only 1% of mothers and 5% of fathers took SPL following the birth or adoption of their child. So, what are some of the potential reasons behind the low uptake of SPL, and what could Government do about it?

1) Gendered labour market disparities

The low uptake of SPL is influenced by several factors, which have broader implications for gender equality and labour market outcomes. Economic considerations play a significant role with women in the UK still earning less than men on average. Our research finds that working women are 1.8 times more likely to be in severely insecure work than men, with severe insecurity affecting 3.9 million women across the UK. These factors can limit individuals’ ability to access SPL, and make it economically rational for women, rather than men, to take most of the parental leave as they face less severe income penalty.

Gendered labour market disparities reinforce this low uptake. Even when women are in relatively senior positions, they are still more likely to experience severely insecure work than their male counterparts. This is particularly the case for disabled women and mothers of young children, with our analysis revealing that working mothers of children aged nine or under were 2.7 times more likely than fathers to experience severely insecure work (30.4% compared with 11.2%).

2) Childcare costs and trade-offs

Childcare expenses are also a significant barrier. This further limits women’s options and making it more difficult for men to take SPL, as couples need to maximise their earnings during the first year of having a child to afford childcare once parental leave periods have finished. We found that one in four insecure workers (27%) who are parents of young children aged up to five reported that childcare costs was their main consideration when looking for a job. Women continue to be disproportionately impacted by these factors and are significantly more likely than men to see childcare costs, and availability of childcare as constraining factors for their job choice.

These constraints can also have long-term impacts on women’s careers, with women who have childcare responsibilities feeling that they had missed out on career progression opportunities due to needing to provide childcare. This maternal pay penalty becomes a self-reinforcing factor in the low uptake of SPL for subsequent children, as the career progression and income of the father is likely to have further exceeded that of the mother.

Many women are forced to make trade-offs when they become parents, which can negatively impact their job quality and future career progression. The imbalances in parental leave are driving gender inequality and exacerbating the gender pay gap. While employers do have the ability to go beyond statutory requirements, just 16% of SPL policies provided by employers across Great Britain moderately exceed statutory requirements, and only 10% substantially exceed them.

3) Lack of employer knowledge

Our research shows that it is likely that a lack of employer knowledge and promotion of SPL, combined with a lack of enhanced packages, may be contributing to its low uptake.

Figure 1. The balance of statutory and enhanced leave policies provided by employers

Source: Work Foundation survey of senior decision makers across Great Britain (April to May 2024: n=1,167).

Our Time Off report, revealed that, whilst 44% of employers offer the statutory requirements of SPL, 25% go beyond this by offering an enhanced package that either moderately or substantially exceeds the legal minimum. According to our research, the proportion of employers offering enhanced SPL is broadly in line with those that offer enhanced maternity (26%) and paternity pay (26%). This suggests that employer enhancements to various parental leave packages often happen in step.

A further 23% of respondents, however, reported that they are unable to answer the question about SPL levels in their organisation, suggesting that there is a significant lack of employer knowledge about this form of statutory leave. By comparison, only 16% were unable to answer the same question about whether the level of annual leave offered exceeds the statutory minimum.

What should happen next?

Currently, the House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee are undertaking an inquiry on statutory shared parental leave to examine the most effective ways of incentivising more equal sharing of childcare. This is a welcome opportunity to shine a light on the challenges that parents face ten years after the introduction of Shared Parental Leave.

In the last decade, there has been little progress on workers’ rights. However, the Government’s Employment Rights Bill, which is currently going through the House of Lords, could be one of the largest changes in employment legislation in a generation, and could mark a positive shift towards extending family-friendly rights. However, the absence of specific measures related to SPL is a cause for concern.

To address these gaps, the Work Foundation has previously recommended that the Department for Business and Trade and the Government Office for Equalities should establish a roadmap to increasing the rate of income replacement offered by SPL, and if necessary, consult on the appropriate levels to introduce.

Despite the last Government’s introduction of ‘free childcare’ for working parents, there still remain key issues facing the childcare sector. The Department for Education should develop a workforce strategy and Government should produce a long-term funding plan for the childcare sector. In addition to already planned improvements to childcare provision, parental leave (and paternity leave in particular) should be reviewed, to ensure that parents are entitled to the right levels of leave and fewer mothers face having to choose flexibility over security.

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