EXCERPTS
New figures have revealed that new fathers take ten times more parental leave when they are offered an extended break from work.
Insurance firm Aviva introduced a policy last year which offered six months full paid leave to all new parents, both male and female, as part of a new scheme designed to help close the gender pay gap.
A year after the scheme was introduced, it showed more than half of new fathers took extended leave to be with their newborn children
The new scheme allowed six months fully paid but a year of paternity leave. Research found the average number of weeks of paternity leave increased to 21 weeks since October last year, up from two weeks before the policy was introduced.
Sixty-seven per cent of fathers took the full six months paid leave, while 95 per cent took more than two weeks.
Aviva policies to bring leave for fathers in line with maternity leave could help to close the gender pay gap.
The government has tried to encourage new fathers to take time off to spend with their newborns.
One estimate suggested just two per cent of fathers had opted into a 'shared parental leave scheme' that allowed new mothers to donate some of their 52-week maternity leave to the father.
If fathers take the leave towards the back-end of the child's first year, the leave is unpaid, which has led to suggestions that families cannot afford to have both parents out of work.
Julia Waltham, the head of policy at the Working Families charity, told The Times: 'We've been calling for an independent period of properly paid leave for fathers that is not tied to the mother's. It's our understanding that the barrier to taking up shared parental leave is primarily financial.'
Caroline Prendergast, the chief people officer at Aviva, added: 'It's plainto see how much mums and dads value the precious time with their families when a new child arrives.
'This is clearly reflected in our figures. When we introduced this policy, we wanted all of our parents to know they can take leave and still have a successful career.'