Football recreation with stars highlights Britain’s poor deal for brand new fathers

Led Ugo Monye and Troy Deeney dads played matches with their children, only to be benched early to highlight the problems with UK paternity leave

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A football game with a twist was played outside Westminster on Monday as struggling dads fight against unfair parental leave provisions.

Led by rugby legend Ugo Monye and former football star Troy Deeney, the dads played matches with their children, only to be benched early to highlight the problems with UK paternity leave.

Each match ran for exactly 10 minutes, one minute for every day of statutory paternity leave available to UK fathers.

When the whistle was blown, the dads were taken off, leaving their children to play on alone.

Every player on the pitch wore a shirt with the number 6 on the back to match the number of weeks dads want to take off with their babies.

The campaign, led by men’s health charity Movember and grassroots organisation The Dad Shift, kicked off ahead of Men’s Health Week (15–21 June) and Father’s Day (June 21).

The kick about coincided with a new report from Movember and The Dad Shift, which found there is a hidden crisis facing new fathers in a nation where dads are entitled to just two weeks’ leave, paid at £194.32 per week. That is less than half the minimum wage and is the worst package in Europe, where the average is eight weeks.

The report, Extra Time With Dad: Improving Men’s Health through UK Paternity Leave, found that 56% of Britons say politicians do not value the role played by fathers, three fifths of the public (60%) support an increase to statutory paternity pay, and nine in ten (92%) believe it is important for fathers to spend time with their babies in the early months of life.

Forty-five per cent of UK fathers experience multiple symptoms of depression or anxiety in their baby’s first year, the report found, with nearly one in 15 experiencing suicidal thoughts during that period.

Dr Zac Seidler, Director of Research at Movember, said: “The weeks after a baby is born are unlike any other moment in a man’s life. He is motivated to be present, to be healthy, to show up. If we support him with time, financial security, and connection, we can set him on a trajectory of better health that lasts decades. If we send him back to work after two weeks, sleep-deprived, financially stretched, and feeling guilty, we establish a very different trajectory.”

With three fifths of Britons (60%) warning that quality time with children is becoming something only wealthy parents can afford, Movember and The Dad Shift are calling on the government to move immediately to six weeks of statutory paternity leave at 90% pay (capped), with two weeks taken at birth and the remaining four weeks available to take any time in the first year.

They also want legislators to extend paternity leave entitlement to self‑employed people and to review maternity health services to ensure they respond to the needs of fathers.

Troy Deeney, who is a Movember Ambassador and now a broadcaster, said:

“My youngest son was born in December 2019. I had to be back at work within 48 hours, which was really hard, but I accepted it as part of my career as a footballer. I have recently had another baby and had much longer off, which has made such a difference in terms of being able to support my partner and bond with my child. I wholeheartedly support this push for improved paternity leave in the UK.”

Alistair Strathern, MP for Hitchin, added: “Britain has some of the worst paternity leave in Europe, and mums and dads alike are worse off as a result. The parental leave review is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to get this right. The evidence is overwhelming – better paternity leave improves mental health, strengthens families, and reduces inequality. This isn’t a luxury. It’s a public health investment.”

• Movember and The Dad Shift are calling on the public to kick up a fuss for better paternity leave – find out more information and sign the petition here