Ian Murray, the Scottish Secretary for State and Labour MP for Edinburgh South, made headlines this week by announcing his intention to claim full paternity leave.
Murray will be the first Cabinet Minister to take the two weeks off work after his second daughter, Loïs, was born on Monday morning.
The Labour government has emphasised its commitment to expanding employment rights. Murray’s decision comes after Labour released their “Make Work Pay” agenda, with a series of Day One employment rights.
Entitlement to paternity leave and unpaid parental leave are encompassed within this scheme.
In a press release for The Student, Murray said:
“As an expectant dad I’m hoping I can encourage working dads across the country to take their full paternity leave and spend their time with their new baby in those special early weeks.
“We know 1 in 5 dads and partners who are entitled to paternity leave don’t take it – that should change in my view.
“I’m proud to serve in a government that is delivering better rights for working families by giving dads day 1 rights to paternity leave as well as a range of other rights, increasing the minimum wage and starting the process to ban zero hours contracts”.
With fewer men claiming paternity leave than women, Murray’s decision has amplified ongoing debates around gender roles. Caroline Erskine, head of policy and campaigns in Scotland for Pregnant Then Screwed, said:
“The fact that Ian is the first cabinet minister to take their full entitlement says a lot about the work that is to be done on paternity leave in the UK and how far we have to go to normalise the role of dads as caregivers.
“So we are loudly applauding Ian for setting an example that we hope other members of government will follow, and we hope to see Labour address the challenges faced by all of the dads and partners who are unable to spend crucial time with their new families.”
According to the UK Government website, the law currently allows individuals to claim 1-2 weeks paid paternity leave, paternity pay, shared parental leave and pay.
Maternity leave in the UK is up to 52 weeks. Statutory maternity pay will be paid for up to 39 weeks.
The UK’s laws on statutory paternity leave “lags way behind other countries” according to George Gabriel, co-founder of The Dad Shift. Gabriel added that Labour’s pledge to review paternity leave policies will ensure that “every family is set up for success” with a new baby.
Sweden has some of the most progressive paternity leave laws in the world. A Swedish second-year student told The Student that she grew up “believing that caregiving is not a gendered role”. She added that:
“You will never have a gender-equal society in a country that only allows two-weeks of paternity leave.”
Murray hopes that his decision to take paternity leave will encourage other fathers to do the same.
“Ian Murray, 2020 Labour Party deputy leadership election hustings, Bristol” by Rwendland is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.