Source: The Conversation – UK
The UK government launched a major review of parental leave in July 2025, with recommendations expected in early 2027.
One question sits at the heart of the review: what difference does parental leave make to family life?
Our new research suggests the effects can last for years. Fathers who spend time as their child’s primary caregiver become more involved parents, develop a deeper understanding of care, and can help create more equal career opportunities within families.
Over five years, we followed ten couples where the father took a period of parental leave and became the child’s primary caregiver while the mother returned to work.
The men took Shared Parental Leave (SPL), a UK scheme that allows mothers (or primary adopters) to reduce their maternity leave entitlement so that a partner can take the remaining leave. The scheme has faced sustained criticism because of its complexity, restrictive eligibility criteria and low statutory pay.
Take up of SPL is estimated at just 5% of eligible fathers – 2% of all working fathers. It is widely agreed to favour professional, dual income couples who are also the segment most likely to receive enhanced pay from their employers.
Learning to become the primary carer
Fathers said that caring for their child alone helped them build confidence, develop practical skills and better understand the realities of everyday childcare. Importantly, these experiences extended beyond childcare itself. Fathers also became more involved in the often invisible domestic work needed to keep family life running smoothly.
One father described how, after finishing his “three months of solo dadding”, he integrated household labour into his working-from-home routine:
It’s ten minutes having lunch and 50 minutes sorting the dishwasher, putting laundry and drying in, putting clothes away, changing the boys’ bed … whatever the job de jour is.
And mothers also recognised the importance of fathers having the chace to parent alone: “being left on your own and being allowed to just do it”.
But fathers were not only taking on practical tasks. Many also described becoming responsible for the planning and organising that sits behind family life.
Increasing attention has been paid to the mental load: the planning, organising and anticipating required to keep a household running smoothly. This hidden work is often unevenly distributed and is seen as a major contributor to women’s stress and burnout.
Fathers in our study described how solo caregiving brought these responsibilities into sharper focus. As one father put it:
So weaning then becomes not just how are we going to get through this meal, but do we have enough food in for all the meals that week?
Through these experiences, fathers gained a deeper understanding of the often invisible cognitive and emotional labour involved in caring for a family. One described looking after a child as “really hard work”. “I don’t think you could understand how difficult it is until you’ve done it full-time,” he said.
What this means for mothers’ careers
Our findings suggest that fathers’ leave can have important consequences for women’s careers.
UK mothers continue to experience a substantial motherhood penalty. Recent figures suggest that, on average, women are earning £1,051 less than they were before childbirth, five years after having a child.
In our study, couples saw career decisions as a shared responsibility. Rather than prioritising one partner’s career permanently, they adjusted priorities at different stages of family life. Emphasising the importance of flexible working, some couples reduced or altered their working hours. In other cases, couples took turns supporting one another’s career ambitions.
One mother explained how her partner’s caregiving enabled her to pursue a major promotion:
I’m not sure I would even have been brave enough [without SPL] to have gone for a job of that nature.
Later, the balance shifted. Once the mother’s career was established, the couple focused on supporting the father’s promotion.
Fathers who had spent time as primary caregivers were also more likely to speak openly about caring responsibilities at work. This challenged traditional assumptions that parenting should remain separate from professional life, and highlighted how caregiving can become part of fathers’ workplace identities.
The UK lags behind other countries
UK fathers currently receive just two weeks of statutory paternity leave. This compares unfavourably with many European countries. Spain offers 16 weeks of leave reserved for fathers, while Denmark, Sweden and Portugal also provide substantially more support than the UK.
International evidence has long suggested well-paid, dedicated leave for fathers increases take-up, and encourages greater involvement in childcare. Our research shows that the benefits are not confined to the months immediately following birth, but can influence family relationships, caregiving patterns and career opportunities for years afterwards.
The government’s review presents an opportunity to think beyond time off after birth and ensure more families are in a position to make choices around leave. Expanding fathers’ leave is not simply about fairness at the point of birth. It is about creating opportunities for fathers to become confident caregivers, supporting mothers’ careers and laying foundations for more equal parenting over the long term.
The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Original source: https://analysis1.mil-osi.com/2026/07/10/ten-fathers-took-extended-leave-to-care-for-their-babies-how-their-family-life-changed/