Baby slings tied to statues as activists call for improved paternity leave

Men campaigning for enhanced paternity leave attached lifesize model babies in slings to statues of men across central London yesterday and called on the government to improve parental leave options, which are ranked the least generous in Europe for fathers.

- Amelia Gentleman

Activists from a new campaign group, the Dad Shift, tied model babies to statues of the engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the actors Laurence Olivier and Gene Kelly and the footballers Thierry Henry and Tony Adams, in an attempt to focus attention on the importance of father-baby bonding.

The UK has the worst paternity leave offer in Europe, with only two statutory weeks of leave, paid at £184.03 a week. As a result, recent research found one in three UK fathers took no paternity leave after the birth of their child, and one in two families where the fathers took paternity leave reported struggling financially afterwards.

The campaigners plan to deliver an open letter to the prime minister later this month, calling on him to take swift action to improve paternity leave.