Family Friendly Rights to be reviewed

On 1 July 2025, the Government launched a review of parental leave and pay in Great Britain. It will look at all types of parental leave including maternity, paternity, adoption, neonatal, unpaid parental leave, and parental bereavement leave. The first stage of this was a call for evidence that ran until 25 August 2025. 

The Government’s aim is to develop a better system of parental leave rights that aligns with its objectives, this includes identifying options that incur no cost to businesses or the exchequer.

The Government published a summary of existing evidence on the uptake of current leave which included:-

• 1% of mothers and 4% of fathers took shared parental leave.
• 70% of mothers received statutory maternity pay.
• The uptake of paternity leave being lower than that of  maternity leave.
• 58% of fathers taking paternity leave received full pay.
• Financial limitations were the main obstacle to parents taking leave.

Please see other evidence and more details at: Parental leave and pay review: summary of existing evidence – GOV.UK

The review is expected to run for 18 months until the end of 2026. The idea is that the Government will then be looking to implement potential reforms and a timetable for this. 

The contents of this article is a general guide only at the date of publication. It is not comprehensive, and it does not constitute legal advice. Specific legal advice should be sought in relation to the particular facts of a given situation.