Rejected petition Make employers give new fathers and new mothers the same parental leave

Maternity leave gives a woman valuable time with a new baby but entrenches her role as primary carer. Child raising is work that can, and should, be shared by fathers. Where employers offer maternity leave policies, these should be extended to apply equally to men and women.

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If employers were forced to offer equal time off to new fathers and new mothers, it would help employers view women and men equally when hiring. Women and men would present an equal “pregnancy risk”. Providing men with the same time off work would help fathers bond with their children and enable them to take a more equal role in parenting. By not requiring equal provision, our legislation is indirectly upholding discrimination.

This petition was rejected

Why was this petition rejected?

There’s already a petition about this issue. We cannot accept a new petition when we already have one about a very similar issue.

You are more likely to get action on this issue if you sign and share a single petition.

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/259677

We only reject petitions that don’t meet the petition standards.

Date submitted 8 August 2019
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