Paternity leave offers for new dads in Britain “is one of the worst in the developed world”, according to For a new report published this week.

The government says that the system needs to be “better” and has promised to review the parents’ holiday. But how is the situation in Britain elsewhere?

BBC News spoke to Dads across Europe how much time they could take out after the birth of their children – and how it has changed paternity for them.

When Jamie’s daughter Kiara was born three years ago, she says it was “incredibly difficult”.

“I had to struggle to my partner taking care of our child,” Jamie says. “I remember the biggest thing was crying. My daughter clearly needed support and my wife was struggling quite and was tired.”

A few weeks after the birth of Kiara, Jamie’s mother -in -law flew to support the family from Zimbabwe, as Jamie was only entitled to the statutory paternity leave.

Rules in UK Allow the new father and other parents to work for two weeks in full-time employment. This applies to all partners, regardless of the penis, after birth, after a child surrogacy or adoption, but not those who are self-planned or dad earn less than £ 123 a week.

Those characters receive £ 187.18 a week or 90% of their average income, which is less. It works as less than half of the national living wages.

Jamie from Ashford in Kent says the legal salary was “clearly penis”.

He and his partner are now expecting their second child, in August – something that he started saving Zaneele’s wife Zanele before getting pregnant.

Jamie says that his “frustration” about paternity pay inspired him to participate in the world’s first “dad strike” earlier this week, when father from across the country protested outside the government’s department for trade and trade in Westminster.

“Things in other countries change relatively recently … why are we not keeping?” Jamie says.

For Octavio, spending four months at home with his daughter Alysis has created a “tremendous difference”.

He divided his paternity into two parts – six weeks – which was essentially compulsory after the birth of Alicia, and the remaining 10 weeks when his wife went back to work.

“Extended with Allicia with Alicia, a computer engineer from Sevile, has allowed us to develop a strong bond that I think it will not be deeply formed.”

Over the years, Spain has increased the amount of time given to the new father. In 2019, Dads deserved five weeks of work. But since 2021, it was extended to 16 weeks at full salary, including for self-planned people. There is no cap on the paid salary. This means that the parents’ holiday is now equal between Mams and Dads in Spain.

“These changes have actually created a significant difference,” says octavio.

France has also taken progressive steps on paternity leave in recent years.

Antony is an architect who lives on the outskirts of Paris, and has benefited from changes. When his son Thibault was born five years ago, Antony, who works full -time, deserves two -week paternity leave.

But in September 2020, the paternity holiday in France doubled, which means Antony got four weeks of work when his second child was born in 2023.

“This allowed me to support my wife and children,” they say. “The father should be allowed to be more present during these family life periods that enrich all relationships and allow them to take their place completely as full-time parents.”

France’s paternity leave rules mean dads – which are self -planned – should work for a week immediately after the birth of your child. The salary has been covered for the first three days by the employer, but after that the kingdom is nurtured.

The remaining 21 days, which can be divided into two chunks, are optional and can be taken anytime within the next six months. The pay is capted at € 3,428 (£ 2,921) in a month.

Andre, who was born in Portugal and spent nine years living in England, says that the lead role played by Dads in Denmark was one of the first things he went there.

“You see dad while walking with your children and young children,” Andre says. “I was like this: ‘Wow, I am not used to it.”

Dads in Denmark, including self-employed, can work up to 24 weeks on full salary by the state.

After eleven weeks, the remaining 13 can be transferred to the birth partner. If wishing, they can use them as additional maternity leave. One of the parents can postpone the parents for 13 weeks until their child becomes nine years of age.

Andre decided to divide his parents’ holiday – it took two weeks immediately after his child’s birth and saved the remaining 11 weeks – so he could take care of his nine -month -old son when his partner returns to work.

“In Denmark, it hopes that the partner is more present,” Andre says. “You are not only connecting with your child, but you want to develop the family together.”

Dad with full -time jobs in Poland is entitled to two -week paternity leave. But unlike the UK, salary is paid at 100%, which Kamil says was “great”.

Shortly after the first birthday of her daughter Mariana, Kamil took leave of a non-transferable parents of one and nine weeks, which should be taken in the first year. It is available to both parents, as long as they are employed, and paid at 70% of full-time salary.

“For many families, 70% nine weeks are very low,” says Kamil, “but … when I took a holiday, my wife started going back to work. I earned 30% less, but she started earning more, so it was beneficial for our family.”

Kamil says that those additional nine weeks reduced “stress” as his wife changed the work back after a year on maternity leave.

“I was confident,” says Kamil. “I felt as if I was doing a good job – and my daughter liked me.”

Matias says from Stockholm that giving rest to his three -month -old son is “the best feel that I have ever experienced”.

Matias is capable of taking advantage of one of the most generous paternity leave policies in the world. Parents in Sweden, with self-employed, can share parents’ holiday for 480 days, with 90 days especially reserved for each parent.

The ringfahes time of for Dads was first introduced in Sweden in 1995, with “Daddy Month” started – 30 days only for the father. The use-ic-or-ice model grew by 60 days in 2002 and 90 days in 2016.

The first 390 days for each parents are paid by the government at 80%, which is up to a monthly salary cap of Sek47,750 (£ 3,590). After that, SEK180 (£ 14) has a daily statutory compensation.

When Otto was born, Matias took six weeks and will use one and nine -month -old parents holiday from November.

“We can share the load in the beginning when everything was new,” says Matias. “Those six weeks allowed us to become parents together – it made a lot of difference.”

Some companies, both in the UK and abroad, pay their pockets for increased paternity leaves beyond the legal minimum. But 2023 research showed that only 12% of the father of low-income houses had access to the leave of employer-monotonized parents and their full rights of salary.

Dad Shift co-founder Alex Lloyd-Hunted says that “Money is the biggest obstacle” to remove the dads from work and the government wants the government to fund better paternity leave for all dads.

A report published this week by the Women and Equality Committee (WEC) said that the statutory salary in the UK was “completely out of the kilter with the cost of life”. This suggested that the government should consider increasing paternity pay to 90% or more and leave paternity for six weeks in a phased approach.

The report also saw the shared parents’ leave, which was introduced in 2014, which allows parents to pay up to 50 weeks holidays and pay for 37 weeks after birth or adoption of a child. In the review, many families considered it “unnecessarily complex”. It is used in less than 2% of all births and a report in 2023 suggests that even half (45%) dads did not know that shared parents’ holiday was an option.

A spokesperson of the Department of Trade and Trade said, “We know that there is a need to improve parents’ holiday system.”

He also pointed to the changes that means that Dads will not soon be employed by a company for 26 weeks, so that statutory paternity leaves.