Men should be given more paternity leave to help close gender pay gap, equality watchdog says

Commission says the proposal would help men and women to more equally share childcare responsibilities and reduce the ‘motherhood penalty’ many women face after having children

Equality and Human Rights Commission deputy chair Caroline Waters says progress on tackling pay gaps has been ‘painfully slow’ (PA)

The Government needs to implement a “radical” shake-up of working culture to close yawning gender, ethnicity and disability pay gaps, the UK’s equality watchdog has said.

Caroline Waters, deputy chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, said on Tuesday that progress on tackling pay gaps in the UK had been “painfully slow” and called for action to ensure the same conversations about the issue are not taking place for decades to come.

The commission recommends a raft of measures, including giving fathers additional “use it or lose it” paternity leave, paid at a higher rate, to encourage men to take more time off when their children are born.

This will help men and women to share the responsibilities of childcare more equally, the commission said. It argues that this in turn will lessen the “motherhood penalty” that sees mothers paid less after childbirth than fathers, because the former are more likely to sacrifice opportunities for career progression or leave their job and take up part-time roles, both of which contribute to the gender pay gap.

Men are currently entitled to two weeks’ paternity leave paid at about £141 per week but many do not take it as they cannot afford to, leaving women to shoulder most of the burden of childcare. Scandinavian fathers can take up to a year off paid at a higher rate, which has helped bring down wage disparity, the commission said.

The call is one of a raft of recommendations in the commission’s comprehensive strategy, published on Tuesday, for tackling pay gaps.

Women are paid about 18.1 per cent less than men on average in the UK, the commission said, with ethnic minorities receiving 5.7 per cent less than white British workers and disabled people earning 13.6 per cent less than those with no disability.

The commission said all jobs should be advertised as available for flexible working in order to help women and disabled people, who are more likely to be forced in to accepting low-paid, part-time jobs than other groups. Currently, employers only have to consider requests from employees to work flexibly.

The report also calls for a new national diversity target for senior and executive management positions and action from a young age to ensure that people are not pushed in to choosing subjects that lead to lower-paying roles because of gender and ethnic stereotypes.

Current requirements for companies to report gender pay gaps should be extended to ethnicity and disability disparities, the commission said.

Ms Waters added: “The pay-gaps issue sits right at the heart of our society and is a symbol of the work we still need to do to achieve equality for all. Subject choices and stereotypes in education send children of all genders, abilities, and racial backgrounds on set paths.

“These stereotypes are then reinforced throughout the workplace in recruitment, pay and progression. For this to change, we need to overhaul our culture and make flexible working the norm; looking beyond women as the primary caregivers and having tough conversations about the biases that are rife in our workforce and society.”