A heartfelt letter from an Edinburgh woman has exposed a critical gap in the UK's paternity leave system, highlighting how self-employed and freelance parents are being completely excluded from support, forcing some couples to delay starting a family.
The Joy of Leave Versus the Pain of Exclusion
Ruby Bayley from Edinburgh explained how reading about another father's experience of eight months of paternity leave resonated deeply with her and her partner. The article by Ilyas Nagdee, published on 14 January, illustrated the transformative effect extended leave could have on family bonding and shared care.
However, for Bayley and her self-employed partner, the piece also underscored a glaring omission. The current national conversation about reforming paternity leave largely ignores the growing number of freelance and self-employed workers, making stories of extended paid leave feel exclusionary rather than aspirational.
A System That Offers No Safety Net
Under the present regulations, a self-employed father is not entitled to any statutory paternity pay or leave. This means Bayley's partner would not even qualify for the two weeks of basic leave available to employed fathers, never mind more substantial shared parental leave.
For a freelancer, already navigating income instability, taking meaningful time off after a birth would mean a total loss of earnings or an impossible juggling act between newborn care and client work at the most demanding time.
Personal Dreams Put on Hold
This financial cliff-edge has placed the couple in a painful dilemma. They desperately want to have a child but feel paralysed by the practical and economic anxiety of managing the first few months without any form of paternity support.
Bayley revealed they are even considering postponing their plans to start a family, hoping the law might change following a government review. This decision is made more urgent by her awareness that her own window for having children is not unlimited.
The fact that such a profound, personal choice is being dictated solely by employment status is, she argues, a profound injustice in a modern economy where flexible work is increasingly common.
A Call for Inclusive Reform
While extended paternity leave has the potential to revolutionise early family dynamics and challenge ingrained care inequalities, Bayley warns that any reform will fail if it continues to overlook self-employed parents.
Such an oversight risks cementing the idea that shared parenting and crucial early bonding are privileges reserved only for those in traditional, salaried roles.
For the UK to truly value care and family life, policy must catch up with the realities of 21st-century work, ensuring all new parents, regardless of how they work, have the chance to be together at the very beginning.
