Last Updated on: 11th March 2024, 11:14 am
Better Daddies has praised the recommendations of the Treasury Select Committee on fostering cultural change and equating parental leave rights for both mothers and fathers. Additionally, Better Daddies welcomes the call for greater clarity concerning maternity and parental leave policies.
As a campaign dedicated to bolstering support and advocating for a cultural shift towards encouraging fathers to undertake a larger share of caregiving and domestic duties, Better Daddies is committed to this cause.
The campaign’s contributions were acknowledged in the Treasury Select Committee’s recent report on sexism within the finance sector, with Better Daddies’ evidence cited in paragraphs 57 and 59. The full text of the evidence submitted by Better Daddies is accessible here.
In a significant recommendation captured in paragraph 76 of the report, the committee asserted: “We recommend that the Government and regulators encourage all firms to consider equalising their offer of parental leave for men and women, and to actively encourage more men to take it up. We also recommend that the Government and regulators encourage firms to be transparent about their maternity and parental leave policies, including when advertising roles, by publishing them on their company websites.”
Omar Salem, founder of Better Daddies, shared his thoughts:
“A key aspect of tackling sexism against women in the workplace is shifting the culture around the role of fathers. Mothers, including those working in financial services, disproportionately carry out childcare. If childcare and parental leave were shared more equally between parents, this would provide more scope for men and women to work more equal hours. This could help reduce the ‘motherhood penalty’, the systematic disadvantages that mothers face in the workplace.”
Better Daddies is championing a range of vital public policy initiatives to aid fathers, which include:
- Better parental leave for fathers and more support for fathers to take it up
- More support for fathers to work part-time and flexibly
- Better childcare provision
- Making parenthood a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010
- Cultural change so that things like parental leave and flexible working become seen as more normal for men to do
Comprehensive details on Better Daddies’ proposals are detailed in their written evidence to the Treasury Select Committee, available here.
