Karen Gill, co-founder and director of Everywoman: 

Here we go again... yet again the issue of maternity leave hits the headlines, although this time it’s an acknowledgement from someone in a position of influence, chief executive of the Equalities and Human Rights Commission Nicola Brewer, that women are unfairly disadvantaged in the workplace due to the biological fact that they are the ones that have children.

Paternity leave

Women are continually vilified for wanting to ‘have it all’, but surely the desire to continue the human race whilst still enjoying a career can’t be entirely mutually exclusive? There has to be more equality – many fathers would relish the opportunity to spend their children’s first few months together, yet with only two weeks paternity leave, they have to accept that this will not happen. 

In order that employers will not feel disinclined to employ women of child-bearing age, there has to be a level playing field. 

Healthy balance

Extending paternity leave will help to balance this; employers can continue to benefit from having a gender-balanced workforce, as the risk of either sex taking time off to have children, will be an equal possibility.