Statutory Paternity Pay
Monday, 12 October 2026
Contributions
Sarah Russell (Congleton) (Lab)Labour
3. What assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the rate of statutory paternity pay on household financial resilience.
The Minister for Social Security and Disability (Sir Stephen Timms)Labour
Parents should be able, without undue financial pressure, to spend time off work in their child’s vital early months. Our review of parental leave and pay, which is due to report early in the new year, is considering how working families can best be supported, including through statutory paternity pay.
My constituent got in touch with me after she had had an emergency caesarean section with twins. It was a traumatic experience. Her husband had to go back to work when she had been out of hospital for only a week. Does the Minister agree that this is not how we should be looking after parents in a civilised society, and that both the mother and the father in that situation would have been better served by longer periods of paid leave?
I am concerned to hear about that experience. The Government recognise the vital role of fathers in supporting mothers and new-born children, particularly after difficult births, such as the one to which my hon. Friend has referred. Our parental leave and pay system is complicated. The review that is under way is looking at how paternity leave and pay and all the current entitlements are supporting working families. Across Government, families’ experiences, such as the one that she has brought to the House, are informing our future policy.
Tim Farron (Westmorland and Lonsdale) (LD)Liberal Democrat
Statutory paternity pay and paternity leave are important things for the Government to be looking at, and I support them in what they are seeking to achieve. In the investigation that the Minister is undertaking, will he look carefully at the status of those who are self-employed? One in four people in the workforce in Westmorland and Lonsdale works for themselves, including the 1,600 people who farm. It is so important that those families too are protected, is it not? How will the brief be extended to ensure that those who work for themselves, or indeed for small employers, are protected too?
The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right, and I am pleased to be able to confirm to him that self-employed parents are explicitly covered in the terms of reference of the current review.
Source: UK Parliament Hansard API. Debate ID: 5413426.