Call for dads to get more time off with newborns

A Guernsey man believes fathers should be allowed to take more parental leave with their newborn children as it "helps the mums as well".

Currently, the island's law allows the mother's partner to take two weeks parent leave but there is no legal requirement for employers to provide pay during it.

Tom Jenkins has recently returned to work after more than five months of parent leave following the birth of his son.

He said: "It would be nice if all dad's got that because every dad should be entitled to that time with their children."

Jenkins admitted that parent leave "never crossed my mind" before his wife was pregnant with their first child, five years ago. His employer at the time gave him five paid days off work.

"I remember going back to work and I was a bit down about it because I had this new baby, we'd wanted this perfect little girl for so long," he said.

"And then I was back to work, and I felt like I missed a lot of the little milestones."

Jenkins wants to "see a cultural change" in Guernsey where fathers taking time off to be with their babies is the norm.

He said: "It's almost frowned upon if a dad has too much time off, which I never really understood.

"It's so important to have that relationship and that bond between the mother and the children and the father and the children as well."

Jenkins said he was surprised when his current employer Skipton International gave him 22 weeks of fully paid leave.

"I nearly fell off my chair when I realised it was for dads as well because I was just so excited", he said.

"My wife, when I told her she couldn't believe it, she was actually crying. She was so happy.

"Just knowing that I was going to be there every day certainly for the first four or five months, it just took a load of pressure off her."

Jenkins said: "That willingness to look after me, not just me, for me that's looking after my wife, it's given extra benefits to my kids, more time. So I do feel a sense of loyalty."

A 2023 survey suggests ideas on gender roles have changed considerably since the mid-1980s.

Back then, 48% agreed with the statement "a man's job is to earn money and a woman's to look after the home", while in 2023 it was just 9%.

Alex Lloyd Hunter, co-founder of The Dad Shift, is campaigning for paternity leave to be "modernised" in the UK to help fathers be more present in family life.

A recent report suggests UK dads fare poorly compared to what's on offer elsewhere in Europe.

The 36-year-old father of two said: "Paternity leave is so important because what happens in those first few days and weeks after the baby is born, really sets a pattern for what can carry on for the rest of their childhood.

"The evidence is very clear that good paternity leave is good for mums, it's good for dads and it's good for children.

"For mums, it means that they get proper support whilst they're still recovering from birth, particularly if they've had a C-section which could take six weeks to recover from, but in the UK, your partner's gone back after two.

"For children, if they get that close relationship with their father, they are more likely to do well at school, they're more likely to grow up happy, they're less likely to have development issues when they grow older."

He believes improving paternity leave for fathers will lead to improvements in gender equality.

Jersey made "trailblazing" changes to their parental leave laws in 2020 with all new parents offered up to 52 weeks off work to "encourage gender balance in childcare roles".

Fathers in Jersey receive six weeks of paid leave, like their partners, increased from their previous entitlement to two weeks' pay.

Deputy Tina Bury has previously described Guernsey as "lagging behind" with parental leave options.

As president of the Committee for Employment & Social Security (ESS), she has been tasked with bringing forward a new policy.

Bury said "detailed policy work hasn't begun yet", but she hoped to share a new policy with the States "before the end of term", which is up in 2029.

"I suppose if you want to put a positive spin on the fact that we're very very behind on this at least we can look to places where it's been bedded in for quite a long time and see what's worked well, what hasn't and cherry-pick the best," she said.

Bury thinks shared parental leave is key for parents to have "more options to be involved at that very early stage of life".

"While it might not have been what was known and done in the past, it is now recognised as a really important part of modern life.

"I think younger families and younger people want that to be part of their lives."

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