Stay-at-home fathers give up £4.7bn a year

The modern dad is more determined to play an equal role in his child’s upbringing – turning down promotions, overtime and even taking salary cuts in order to do it.

But all the determination not to be like the distant stereotype of yesteryear comes at a price, reveals a new survey today.

Each dad is estimated to be suffering an average £2,800 a year loss of pay, which adds up to £4.7billion across Britain.

“Most fathers now believe they are equally important in looking after their children,” said Jenny Watson, of the Equal Opportunities Commission.

But, she added: “Despite a revolution in their own attitudes towards fatherhood, men are still finding it difficult to make these aspirations a reality.”

And she called on incoming new prime minister Gordon Brown to hurry up and extend fathers’ measly two weeks of paternity leave, compared to the 39 weeks and improved statutory maternity pay given to women in the past 10 years by Tony Blair’s Government.

The research, carried out by the insurance giant ING Direct, has found that four and a half million fathers now share all the responsibilities for childcare.

As many as 42 per cent have changed jobs in order to reduce their working hours, while one in 10 have opted for a part-time post, and one in 20 have turned down pay rises in order to have more time with their families.

Lindsay Sinclair, the insurers chief executive,  said: “Modern men are choosing to put their careers on hold in order to balance work with bringing up their children.

“For many, this means reducing working hours and taking an average salary cut of around £2,800, in order to spend more time ‘holding the baby’.”

But financial pressure is still getting in the way of some men being the hands-on fathers they’d like to be.

One in six (16 per cent) are the main breadwinner in the family so do not feel they have the flexibility to cut back on work or turn down better-paid jobs. One in 10 wished that they had savings to make it easier for them to change their working patterns.

“Yet, with good financial planning, new dads needn’t miss out,” added Mr Sinclair.

The report found that in the real-world workplace fathers are finding it hard to persuade employers to live up to the idealistic equal opportunity vision espoused by changes in the Work and Families Act.

While both parents of young children now have the right to request flexible working, men are far more likely to have their requests declined.

More than a third (34 per cent) of fathers said their bosses had been “unsupportive” of their childcare duties.

As a direct result, said many of the fathers interviewed, they had encountered a range of barriers in the workplace – including being excluded from important business decisions,  being overlooked for promotions, and being told that they were not working long enough hours.

Back at the Equal Opportunities Commission, Jenny Watson said: “Since a third of fathers are working more than 48 hours a week, that has a real impact on family life.

“Swift implementation of the proposals for additional paternity leave would demonstrate that Gordon Brown’s Government is serious about acknowledging that fathers have a role at home, as well as at work.”

She added that as well as helping fathers to spend more time with children, it is crucial that they have access to public services, as mothers do.

“For example,” she added,  “health visitors on home visits should include fathers as well as mothers.

“Likewise, early years services must think about ways to engage both parents.”

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