Government papers: Fathers and the workplace: Government Response

The Women and Equalities Committee has published the government’s response to the report on Fathers and the workplace.

In response to the report, the government has said it wants a public debate about funding greater workplace support for fathers. However, it has rejected most of the recommendations made by the Women and Equalities Committee, which were designed to modernise workplace policies for 21st century families.

Key responses from the paper include:

• “The long term solution lies in promoting and securing a wider culture change. That is a complex task which requires action on a broad range of fronts.”
• “Many of the Committee’s recommendations are far reaching, would involve a radical change in policy direction or, as is the case with issues around employment status, sit with other complex issues where parallel work is underway.”
• “There is a lot of work underway in government on issues both directly and indirectly relevant to the topic of fathers in the workplace.”