According to research published by the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission and the Economic and Social Research Institute only half of fathers are taking their paternity leave entitlements.

Researchers analysed the years between 2019-2022. The report notes that the Covid-19 pandemic may have had an impact on the usage of child-related leave, as the study estimates that 26% of eligible fathers who had children born in 2021 availed of paternity leave, compared to 69% of eligible mothers.

The report is entitled Child Related Leave: Usage and Implications for Gender Equality, and examines the usage of child-related leave benefits in Ireland and their implications for gender equality in the workplace.

It calls for structural inequality between women and men to be addressed, saying that Ireland must find a new relationship between paid employment, care work and gender roles.

Parent’s leave entitles each parent to nine weeks’ leave during the first two years of a child’s life, or in the case of adoption, within two years of the placement of the child with the family.

The leave period remains the same in the case of multiple births, for example if they have twins or adopt two or more children at the same time. It is available to both employees and people who are self-employed.

They may also qualify for a payment called Parent’s Benefit during parent’s leave. Parental Benefit is paid while on parent’s leave from work if they have enough social insurance (PRSI) contributions.

The employer does not have to pay during parent’s leave, although some employers may ‘top-up’ your Parent’s Benefit. Those qualifying for Parental Benefit will get €289 each week.

Paternity benefit is a payment for a two-week paternity leave, while parent’s benefit is a payment for a longer period of leave for parents to care for their child during their first two years, available to both parents.

While the vast majority of mothers take the maximum 26 weeks of paid maternity leave available, those receiving a top-up from their employer did take slightly longer than those who received no top-up payment.

The research found that income-related concerns were often cited as a factor in fathers not availing of all their entitled leave, as well as the flat-rate nature of payments, particularly for those on higher incomes not getting an employer top-up. Paternity and parent’s leave for fathers in Ireland are both lower than the OECD average, and paternity leave is significantly shorter than maternity leave in Ireland.

The report found that relying on employers to top up parents’ incomes results in a large variation in how much of pre-birth earnings are covered during leave as top-ups vary significantly across different employers.

It also said that promoting awareness of leave entitlements among parents, particularly fathers, would increase take-up rates. It further called for workplace norms and attitudes that may discourage fathers from taking leave to be addressed.

 

NB – This is a guide for information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. If you have an issue requiring legal advice, please contact any of the team at Nolan Farrell & Goff LLP, whose numbers can be found on our website www.nfg.ie, or email info@nfg.ie.