Shared Parental Leave (SPL) was introduced in the UK in April 2015 and yet, the number of eligible parents that have taken it remains very low.
Two national experts on the subject are based here at Birmingham Business School and are undertaking research to understand why fathers are unlikely to take up family friendly policies available to them.
Dr Holly Birkett and Dr Sarah Forbes from the Equal Parenting project have been shining a light on parent’s feelings about engaging in childcare, the role of policy and the influence of the workplace on caretaking behaviour.
They have already informed government departments about how to support organisations to increase the uptake of SPL and they would like your help to better understand employee views. Your responses about what aids or prevents usage of family friendly policies will be of great use in advancing knowledge in the field and inform future policy decisions. All participants are very welcome and you do not need to have children to participate.
If you are based in the UK, you can complete our survey and help Holly and Sarah to understand what may be aiding or preventing families from using family friendly policies. The research is being used to inform government policy and your participation will help highlight issues that need to be addressed by the UK government.
More from Dr Holly Birkett and Dr Sarah Forbes:
- Where's dad?
Birmingham Business School Blog, 24 April 2018