Advocates have attached toy babies wrapped in baby slings to statues of men across the UK in a quirky yet powerful statement to improve the nation’s parental leave policy.
The Dad Shift, an organisation of men, dads and co-parents based in the UK, have written an open letter to Prime Minister Keir Starmer calling for improvements to parental leave for working men.
According to the organisation, fathers are entitled to just two weeks of paid parental leave at £185 a week ($360 AUD a week). – less than half the minimum wage.
The parental leave policy – the worst in Europe, The Dad Shift reports – is causing one third of fathers to take no leave at all when their new baby arrives. This means, in heterosexual partnerships, mothers do most of the unpaid care and domestic responsibilities.
“Proper parental leave for fathers and co-parents is good for mothers, good for babies, good for fathers and good for society too including improving health outcomes for all,” The Dad Shift writes in its open letter to Labor Prime Minister Starmer.
“With Labour committed to reviewing parental leave arrangements within its first year in office, we’re asking you to meet with us and consider getting behind The Dad Shift’s call for parental leave that is affordable for people to take, gives a substantial allowance of time, and supports equality among parents.”
To raise awareness of The Dad Shift’s campaign, advocates have taken a unique approach. As of today, people in the UK may find statues of men – including football legend Thierry Henry, British engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel and Singing In The Rain actor Gene Kelly – have a little something extra on them.
“Why did we attach lifesize model babies in slings to statues of men across London? We want to draw attention to the important role that fatherhood plays in men’s lives – and why the UK government needs to give dads and co-parents better paternity leave,” The Dad Shift wrote in an Instagram post.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer is yet to respond to the campaign.
Before he was elected to government in July this year, Prime Minister Keir Starmer was criticised for saying he wanted to spend Friday nights with his children.
“We’ve had a strategy in place and we’ll try to keep to it,” the PM said in an interview on Virgin Radio during his election campaign, “which is to carve out really protected time for the kids.
“So on a Friday – I’ve been doing this for years – I will not do a work-related thing after six o’clock, pretty well come what may.”
His conservative opponents spun this to suggest he would be a “part time prime minister” if elected, but advocates, including The Dad Shift, applauded him for it.
“As fathers and parents, we admired both the commitment you show your family and the conviction with which you were willing to defend it,” The Dad Shift writes in the open letter.
“It’s because of that commitment and that conviction that we wanted to write and ask for your help, making sure dads across the country can show up for their families just as you show up for yours.”