Push for Paternity Leave

In the build up to Equal Parenting Week, join us for Push for Paternity Leave - a family-friendly walk calling for better paternity leave and flexible working for UK families.

Dads and prams will take over central London as we walk from Trafalgar Square to Buckingham Palace demanding better paternity leave rights. The event will end with speeches close to the Palace.

If you care about parental rights in the UK this is your chance to be part of this movement - pushing for fair paternity leave.

While we’re especially encouraging dads, father-figures and non-birthing parents to come with prams, this walk is for all parents and allies.

Mums, dads, non-birthing parents, co-parents, carers, grandparents and supporters are all welcome — whether your children are babies, teens, or all grown up.

This is a peaceful, inclusive, family-friendly walk pushing for policies and cultures that support shared care from day one.

Families across the UK are struggling with unequal care loads, a lack of flexible working and one of the worst parental leave systems in Europe.

We need change now:

💡 Mothers do 60% more unpaid childcare and lose £65,000 on average within five years of their first child

💡 88% of the gender pay gap is driven by the motherhood penalty

💡 21% of dads have been asked “where’s your wife?” after requesting flexible working

💡 1 in 5 dads take no paternity leave at all, often because they simply can’t afford to

This isn’t about individual choices. It’s about systems, policies and workplace cultures that see childcare as “women’s work”. It mean mums are often forced to take on the vast majority of childcare and dads are stuck in the narrow providing role.

The system isn’t working for families.

The Government is currently undertaking a parental leave review. This concludes in early 2027 so we need to keep the pressure on as this will likely be the last chance we have to improve statutory paternity leave rights in our lifetime.

At Push for Paternity Leave, we’ll be asking for paternity leave to be increased to 6 weeks paid at 90% of salary. Research has found this could reduce the gender pay gap by 4 percent and deliver £2.6 billion to the wider economy.

Dads and prams will take over central London as we walk from Trafalgar Square to Buckingham Palace demanding better paternity leave rights.

We’ll walk together through central London. There will be short speeches along the route, media moments, and plenty of opportunities for photos.

We’ll be making a video of our own so will be talking to parents about their experiences of paternity leave and flexible working.

If the weather’s good, we’ll finish by gathering at a local park for some social time - a chance to connect, talk, and build community after the walk.

We’ll also provide you with an Equal Parenting Week T-shirt to wear, so we’re visible, united and impossible to ignore. If you’re coming with someone else, just give us a heads up when you sign up - we’ll make sure we bring enough T-shirts, and we’ll ask for sizes closer to the time.

While we’re especially encouraging dads, father-figures and non-birthing parents to come with prams, this walk is for all parents and allies.

Mums, dads, non-birthing parents, co-parents, carers, grandparents and supporters are all welcome — whether your children are babies, teens, or all grown up.

This is a peaceful, inclusive, family-friendly walk pushing for policies and cultures that support shared care from day one.

Register your interest and we’ll be in touch with full details, meeting point and timings very soon.

Push for Paternity Leave is brought to you by Equal Parenting Week, Parenting Out Loud and Growth Spurt.

Equal Parenting Week is a national awareness and action campaign, taking place from Monday 27th April to Sunday 3rd May, designed to challenge traditional gender roles in caregiving and champion a more balanced, inclusive approach to parenting – at home and in the workplace.

Parenting Out Loud is a workplace culture change programme that supports dads to be loud and proud about their caring responsibilities at work, and equal parents at home.

Growth Spurt offers life-changing support to ambitious parents navigating pregnancy, parental leave, and being a working parent, while helping employers better support their workforce.

Push for Paternity Leave is also supported by WorkLife Central, Centre for Policy Research on Men and Boys, Fatherhood Institute and How Do You Do It.

Also check out other Contests in London, Meetups in London.