Dads throughout the UK have taken to the streets this month to demand higher paternity depart rights from the federal government and their employers.
Paternity depart and pay is a urgent concern for a lot of. However many individuals don’t realise that self-employed dads face a good greater problem round taking day without work for his or her new child.
Whereas employed dads are entitled to statutory depart and pay, those that work as freelancers or sole merchants don’t have the identical rights.
What are the present paternity depart guidelines for the self-employed?
Because it stands, the statutory weekly price of paternity pay within the UK is £187.18, or 90% of your common weekly earnings, whichever is decrease.
When it comes to depart, employed dads are entitled to both one or two weeks’ depart, so long as they labored for his or her employer for not less than 26 weeks by the fifteenth week earlier than the child is due and earn not less than £123 per week.
Compared to these nonetheless meager allowances, self-employed dads get pleasure from even much less day without work.
Dads-to-be who’re sole merchants have mainly non-existent entitlements to paternity depart or pay within the UK. To get pleasure from all-important time with their new youngster, they should take unpaid day without work from their work, or attempt to work by means of it and juggle each work and parental duties.
It’s a unique story for firm administrators, since they are able to obtain paternity pay by claiming it as an worker of their very own firm. This is the reason many soon-to-be fathers select to register their enterprise as a restricted firm, quite than a sole tradership.
Shared Parental Go away (SPL) permits parents-to-be to share as much as 50 weeks of depart and 37 weeks of pay. Nevertheless, self-employed fathers can’t take SPL until they’re additionally staff. Solely moms who’re self-employed can permit their employed accomplice to take SPL.
Why are dads putting — and what’s at stake?
Earlier this month, lots of of dads joined protests in London and Edinburgh. Dubbed the ‘world’s-first dad strike’, the motion was based mostly on frustration over the dearth of assist, monetary insecurity, and poor work-life steadiness for self-employed fathers.
Whereas Labour’s reforms to employment rights included a day one proper to maternity depart, paternity depart was left off the agenda. And the UK is lagging behind different international locations in its disregard for dads. For instance, Swedish dad and mom are entitled to a shared pool of 480 paid days off work for the kid’s first 4 years of life, to be cut up between dad and mom.
Different Nordic international locations additionally grant dads treasured day without work with their newborns. Norwegian dads can take as much as 12 months of depart, whereas Finland has scrapped separate maternity and paternity insurance policies in favour of a ‘parental depart’ which entitles dad and mom to six.6 months every.
George Gabriel, from the Dad Shift, the marketing campaign which organised the protest, instructed the Guardian that “On the very least we wish to see six weeks of paternity depart at common pay. That was really useful by the Ladies and Equalities Committee on Tuesday.
“It needs to be a primary minimal – the common throughout Europe is eight weeks. The UK paternity depart is lowest in Europe, and fortieth out of 43 developed international locations.”
It’s additionally a problem of gender equality. The Dad Shift additionally says that improved paternity depart insurance policies would assist to deal with the gender pay hole. By permitting fathers to share childcare, fewer new moms must take profession breaks or swap to part-time hours.
Extra beneficiant maternity depart additionally perpetuates the dated notion of the mom as the first caregiver. Giving fathers extra depart would honour each dad and mom’ key position in childcare and early improvement and tackle the so-called ‘Motherhood Penalty’.
What can self-employed dads do — and what’s altering?
Whereas dads-to-be in 2025 are taking to the streets to push for reform, there are a number of methods self-employed fathers navigate the UK’s stingy paternity depart allowance within the meantime.
Setting apart financial savings earlier than the child’s arrival could also be a no brainer, however can even present a vital buffer in the course of the early weeks off work. Revenue safety insurance coverage is another choice value exploring, particularly for sole merchants whose earnings cease the minute they do.
Versatile working can even assist. Freelancers could possibly restructure their workload, frontloading tasks earlier than the due date or lining up less-demanding duties for the new child section. You may additionally wish to collaborate with trusted friends or colleagues to delegate duties.
Whereas these methods assist, systemic change remains to be obligatory. Campaigns like The Dad Shift are elevating consciousness, and there’s rising stress for legislative change.
The Ladies and Equalities Committee has really useful six weeks of paid paternity depart. Let’s hope that future employment legislation reform may put fathers on extra equal footing.
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