From the 5th April 2015 parents have had the option to take Shared Parental Leave once a baby is born. The new policy gives eligible parents, partners and adopters the flexibility to decide themselves who will care for their baby in the first year of its life.
The changes mean that maternity cover can now be split between a mother and father. It’s a great idea for families like ours where the Mother is the main breadwinner. It allows the Mother to go back to work if required and allows the Father stay at home with baby.
When the little man was born I ended up taking almost a years maternity leave whereas Hubby could only take two weeks Paternity, it wasn’t ideal when we had a newborn and I was recovering from a C Section.
Although I think the new policy is a great idea, I really enjoyed my Maternity Leave so I’m not sure I’d have wanted to change. It would have been nice to have had the option to swap with Hubby if I’d wanted too though.
You can read more about Shared Maternity Leave on the infographic below provided by GoToMeeting.
