The Budget’s new parental pay measures are a step forward, but many fathers still need better financial support to afford time off with their new baby, University of Bath research suggests.
The Budget announced a new parental allowance for eligible self-employed fathers, partners and adopters from April 2029, as the Government considers wider changes to parental leave and pay.
Now research from the University of Bath’s Institute for Policy Research, published before the Budget, sheds light on what could make the biggest difference to families.
A survey of 2,501 UK adults who have, or plan to have, children found that raising paternity pay from the statutory rate to 90% of earnings increased support for a paternity leave policy by 18.9 percentage points.
By comparison, increasing leave from two to six weeks, without increasing pay, raised support by just 7.8 points.
For mothers, extending maternity leave at 90% pay from six to 26 weeks increased support by 27.4 percentage points, the biggest effect tested.
The findings point to a key challenge for reform: giving parents the right to take leave is not enough if they cannot afford to take it.
“Our research sends a clear message: time and pay have to be looked at together. For fathers in particular, better pay matters more than simply offering more time off.
“This matters for mothers too. We talk a lot about the ‘mental load’ women carry, but patterns of care can start early. Giving fathers a genuine opportunity to step in and take responsibility for care could help families share that load more equally.”
Wider reform could deliver £10.1bn social gain
A companion University of Bath study examined the costs and benefits of wider parental leave reform.
Researchers modelled a package including better-paid maternity and paternity leave, paid shared leave, day-one access and provision for self-employed parents.
Assuming average take-up, the analysis estimates the package could deliver a £10.1 billion net social gain if improvements in parents’ life satisfaction are valued over ten years.
That falls to £1.9 billion if the wellbeing effect is valued over five years. If wellbeing is left out of the calculation, the reforms produce a £6.3 billion net cost.
The research is also relevant to changes already made this year. Since 6 April 2026, Paternity Leave and Unpaid Parental Leave have been day-one employment rights in Great Britain, although eligibility rules for Paternity Pay have not changed.
Dr Joanna Clifton-Sprigg added: “Having the right to take leave is welcome but in practice means little if families can’t afford to use it.”
The research is published in two University of Bath Institute for Policy Research reports: