The UK’s parental leave system offers relatively long maternity leave but much of it is poorly paid, while fathers and partners have very little well-paid leave of their own.

This policy brief by Dr Joanna Clifton-Sprigg, Dr Ana Catalano Weeks, Professor Kerry L Papps and Dr Alistair Hunt reports findings from a conjoint survey experiment with 2,501 UK adults aged 18–45 who have, or plan to have, children.

Respondents showed strong support for more generous provision for both parents. Extending maternity leave paid at 90% of earnings from six to 26 weeks increased policy support by 27.4 percentage points. For fathers and partners, improving pay mattered more than extending leave: moving from statutory pay to 90% of earnings increased support by 18.9 points, while extending leave from two to six weeks increased support by 7.8 points. Preferences were broad-based across social groups.

The findings support a coordinated package of reform: longer periods of well-paid maternity leave, at least six weeks of individually reserved leave for fathers and partners, substantially better pay and broad access to entitlements.

Published October 2026.