Following recent calls by the Women and Equalities Committee and campaigners to increase Paternity Leave entitlements. The Government has launched a major review of parental leave and pay to better support working families and help children get the best start in life.
What will the review cover?
The review, which is part of the Government’s Plan to Make Work Pay, will look at existing leave and pay entitlements including:
- Maternity leave and pay
- Maternity leave and pay
- Adoption leave and pay
- Shared parental leave and pay
- Parental bereavement leave and pay
- Neonatal care leave and pay
- Unpaid parental leave
- Maternity Allowance
The review will also consider a new employment right to unpaid bereaved partner’s paternity leave that is currently under development. The Government aims to bring this new right into force in 2026.
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What is paternity bereavement leave?
What are the Government’s objectives?
The current parental leave system will be reviewed against four key objectives:
- Maternal health – looking at supporting the physical and mental health, recovery and wellbeing of women during pregnancy and post-partum by giving them sufficient time away from work with an appropriate level of pay
- Economic - support economic growth by enabling more parents to stay in work and advance in their careers after starting a family
- Giving children the best start in life – making sure sufficient resources and time away from work is provided to support new and expectant parents’ wellbeing and facilitate the best start in life for children
- Childcare - help parents to make balanced childcare choices, providing flexibility to reflect the realities of modern work and childcare needs
Additionally, to this, the review will also consider how the parental system can be simpler, provide fairness and equality between different types of parents and different employment statuses, and balance the costs and benefits to both businesses and the Government
To inform the work of the review, a call for evidence was opened on 1 July 2025 which will run until 11.59pm on 25 August 2025.
The Government expects the review to last for 18 months. It will conclude with a set of findings and a roadmap, including next steps for any potential reforms. Any reforms will be in addition to proposed changes to the parental leave system included in the Employment Rights Bill.
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