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This petition was submitted during the 2019 to 2024 Parliament

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Closed Make Paternity Leave equal to Mat. leave to give new parents more family time.

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Currently, Paternity Leave is unfair. Gov.uk states fathers and partners of pregnant women can:
- only have 2 weeks leave, which must end within 56 days of the birth
- not take leave before the birth
- only take extra leave through Shared Parental Leave IF the mother is also eligible for SPL.

The way in which Paternity Leave is currently available does not allow adequate family time to bond and support before one parent must return to work. The change this petition implores the government to implement is:

Make Paternity Leave equal to Maternity leave, with the same guidelines for pay, duration and when it can be taken, to enable fathers/partners to support the mother through the last few weeks of pregnancy, and to allow more quality family and bonding time with new baby.

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  • Petition closed

  • Petition published

    This petition can now be signed.

    If this petition gets 10,000 signatures, government will respond to it.

    If this petition gets 100,000 signatures, it will be considered for debate in Parliament.

    This petition will stay open until 1 March 2021.