How A lot Paternity Depart Do Self-employed Dads Get? 

Dads throughout the UK have taken to the streets this month to demand higher paternity go away rights from the federal government and their employers.

Paternity go away and pay is a urgent situation for a lot of. However many individuals don’t realise that self-employed dads face a good greater problem round taking day off for his or her new child.

Whereas employed dads are entitled to statutory go away and pay, those that work as freelancers or sole merchants don’t have the identical rights. 

What are the present paternity go away guidelines for the self-employed?

Because it stands, the statutory weekly charge of paternity pay within the UK is £187.18, or 90% of your common weekly earnings, whichever is decrease.

By way of go away, employed dads are entitled to both one or two weeks’ go away, so long as they labored for his or her employer for at the very least 26 weeks by the fifteenth week earlier than the infant is due and earn at the very least £123 per week.

Compared to these nonetheless meager allowances, self-employed dads take pleasure in even much less day off.

Dads-to-be who’re sole merchants have principally non-existent entitlements to paternity go away or pay within the UK. To take pleasure in all-important time with their new youngster, they should take unpaid day off from their work, or attempt to work by means of it and juggle each work and parental duties.

It’s a special story for firm administrators, since they are able to obtain paternity pay by claiming it as an worker of their very own firm. This is the reason many soon-to-be fathers select to register their enterprise as a restricted firm, moderately than a sole tradership.

Shared Parental Depart (SPL) permits parents-to-be to share as much as 50 weeks of go away and 37 weeks of pay. Nonetheless, self-employed fathers can’t take SPL until they’re additionally staff. Solely moms who’re self-employed can enable their employed accomplice to take SPL.

Why are dads placing — and what’s at stake?

Earlier this month, tons of of dads joined protests in London and Edinburgh. Dubbed the ‘world’s-first dad strike’, the motion was primarily based on frustration over the shortage of assist, monetary insecurity, and poor work-life steadiness for self-employed fathers. 

Whereas Labour’s reforms to employment rights included a day one proper to maternity go away, paternity go away was left off the agenda. And the UK is lagging behind different international locations in its disregard for dads. For instance, Swedish dad and mom are entitled to a shared pool of 480 paid days off work for the kid’s first 4 years of life, to be break up between dad and mom.

Different Nordic international locations additionally grant dads valuable day off with their newborns. Norwegian dads can take as much as 12 months of go away, whereas Finland has scrapped separate maternity and paternity insurance policies in favour of a ‘parental go away’ which entitles dad and mom to six.6 months every. 

George Gabriel, from the Dad Shift, the marketing campaign which organised the protest, instructed the Guardian that “On the very least we wish to see six weeks of paternity go away at common pay. That was really useful by the Girls and Equalities Committee on Tuesday.

“It needs to be a primary minimal – the typical throughout Europe is eight weeks. The UK paternity go away is lowest in Europe, and fortieth out of 43 developed international locations.”

It’s additionally a problem of gender equality. The Dad Shift additionally says that improved paternity go away insurance policies would assist to deal with the gender pay hole. By permitting fathers to share childcare, fewer new moms must take profession breaks or swap to part-time hours. 

Extra beneficiant maternity go away additionally perpetuates the dated notion of the mom as the first caregiver. Giving fathers extra go away would honour each dad and mom’ key function in childcare and early improvement and handle the so-called ‘Motherhood Penalty’.

What can self-employed dads do — and what’s altering?

Whereas dads-to-be in 2025 are taking to the streets to push for reform, there are just a few methods self-employed fathers navigate the UK’s stingy paternity go away allowance within the meantime.

Setting apart financial savings earlier than the infant’s arrival could also be a no brainer, however can even present a vital buffer in the course of the early weeks off work. Earnings safety insurance coverage is an alternative choice value exploring, particularly for sole merchants whose earnings cease the minute they do.

Versatile working can even assist. Freelancers might be able to restructure their workload, frontloading tasks earlier than the due date or lining up less-demanding duties for the new child section. You may also wish to collaborate with trusted friends or colleagues to delegate duties.

Whereas these methods assist, systemic change remains to be needed. Campaigns like The Dad Shift are elevating consciousness, and there’s rising strain for legislative change.

The Girls and Equalities Committee has really useful six weeks of paid paternity go away. Let’s hope that future employment regulation reform may put fathers on extra equal footing.