British dads are being called to take part in the world’s first “Dad strike” this week, as growing frustration over the UK’s lack of meaningful paternity support reaches a tipping point.
Organised by campaign group the Dad Shift, the protest will see fathers and babies gather outside the Department for Business and Trade in London on 11 June to demand better rights and pay for new dads and non-birthing partners.
The strike comes in response to what campaigners call “Europe’s least generous” statutory paternity leave system – just two weeks at a flat rate of £187.18 per week. For many working fathers, especially those who are self-employed or on lower incomes, taking time off after a child’s birth is simply unaffordable.
“The UK’s rubbish paternity leave system means from the day our kids arrive, most fathers are forced to make an impossible choice between providing financially or being present,” said George Gabriel from the Dad Shift.
Despite early pledges, Labour’s proposed “day one” right to paternity leave under its flagship Employment Rights Bill has come under fire for failing to guarantee statutory pay. Campaigners say this omission threatens to entrench the inequality new mothers already face, and makes it harder for families to share caregiving responsibilities equally.
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