• Families Need Fathers welcomes proposals from the Government today which give fathers six months paternity leave
• No matter how young or old the child is it is best for them to have two equally involved parents sharing the care of their children 

Families Need Fathers (FNF) welcomes proposals from the Government today which give fathers the legal right to take the place of the mother at home for the last three months of their nine month maternity leave and the right to an additional three months unpaid off. 

Our current parental leave system just reinforces the traditional gender roles of ‘mothers as carers and fathers as breadwinners’ which no longer apply to today’s parents. No matter how young or old the child is it is best for them to have two equally involved parents sharing the care of their children.

This is a step in the right direction towards allowing both parents to fulfil their responsibilities from day one. What needs to come next is the end of ‘maternity’ and ‘paternity’ leave. This should be replaced with an allocation of parental leave to be divided between parents as they see fit, allowing them to choose how they work and parent.

Becky Jarvis, Policy Officer for FNF said “After over ten years of campaigning by FNF the government has realised that the world has moved on from the pipe and slippers stereotype of the father. Today's dads want to be there for their children from day one.”

Families Need Fathers - campaigning for Shared Parenting whatever the family circumstances.

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