The UK parental leave system gives mothers and fathers very different opportunities to take time away from work after the birth of a child.

Dr Joanna Clifton-Sprigg, Dr Alistair Hunt, Tiffany Choeung and Ciaran Hay assess the costs and benefits of a broad redesign of UK parental leave.

The package combines 18 weeks of maternity leave paid at 90% of average weekly earnings, six weeks of non-transferable paternity leave at 90%, 21 weeks of paid shared leave, 13 weeks of unpaid shared leave, day-one access to paid leave and equivalent provision for self-employed parents.

Assuming average take-up, the model produces a £10.1 billion net social gain when life-satisfaction effects are valued over ten years. The result is highly sensitive to how wellbeing is treated: a five-year effect produces a £1.9 billion gain, while excluding monetised wellbeing produces a £6.3 billion net cost. The report shows that the largest quantified cost falls on employers through reorganisation and temporary cover, while the largest quantified benefit comes from parental wellbeing.

The report argues that policymakers should assess parental leave as a package, make uncertainty explicit and improve UK evidence on take-up, employer costs, family wellbeing and longer-term labour-market outcomes.

Published October 2026.