Two-thirds of working fathers 'using annual leave after new birth'

The majority of working fathers are having to use allotted holiday time to bond and care for their newborn child, a study has revealed.

Fathers are entitled two weeks' paid paternity leave of at least £138 per week under the law.

However, only one in every six employers tops that figure up, despite evidence showing most fathers wanted to take more time off to care for their kids, according to Mumsnet.

Instead, two-thirds of the fathers quizzed by the parenting website admitted the only way they could support their partner and care for their very young children was to take annual leave.

Read: Lib Dems pledge extra four weeks of paternity leave

Mumsnet spoke to 1000 mothers and found four out of five couples wanted the father to take more paternity leave, but most men could not afford it.

Only 13% of workers describe their employers as family friendly, while two-thirds did not.

Better paternity leave has been a key Liberal Democrat policy, with the coalition introducing shared parental leave from Spring 2015 in order to help parents share the responsibilities of caring for newborn children.

Shared parental leave kicks in when the mother ends her maternity leave after 12 weeks, and she can decide with her partner how to split the remaining 40 weeks between them.

Justine Roberts, chief executive of Mumsnet, said:

Read: How will the reforms affect my parental leave?

Mumsnet will tonight give awards to family-friendly companies, including Butlins, Matalan, McDonald's and Unilever.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said:

Deloitte, PwC and Shell, who between them employ nearly 100,000 people in the UK, have announced they will be offering enhanced paternity packages to all their employees.