Central London was witness to quite the unusual sight this week as the statues of male personalities found themselves with bundles of joy attached. Across the United Kingdom, male statues were sighted with infant dolls wrapped around their chests in baby carriers. A kneeling sculpture of footballer Thierry Henry outside Holloway's Emirates Stadium had a brightly coloured orange sling with a baby doll inside. A bronze statue of Gene Kelly in Leicester Square re-enacting his iconic 'swinging from a lamp post' pose had additional weight on his arms than just his umbrella with a mustard-coloured baby carrier across his front. The gimmick is drawing attention in the UK and across the world too, all for good reason.
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Photo Credit: Instagram/@Mamamia_Family
The campaign is being led by The Dad Shift, who describe themselves as a "group of men, dads and co-parents campaigning for proper paternity leave in the UK". Supported by the label Wrap A Hug who created the slings for the campaign, it is designed to draw attention to the role of fatherhood in a family. The campaign primarily aims to address the topic of paternity leave in the UK and how its lack there of, affects fathers, parents and the structure of a family in entirety.
According to The Guardian, the UK offers two weeks of paternity leave, paid at £184 (approximately Rs 20,300) a week. In comparison, European countries like Belgium had its paternity leave increased to 20 days and Finland gave both parents an equal quota of 160 parental allowance days as per directives by the European Parliament. In India, there is currently no mandatory law on paternity leave for employees in the private sector but according to the Central Civil Services (Leave) Rules of 1972, male government employees are entitled to 15 days of paternity leave.
The issue of paternity leave may seem like it solely affects fathers of new children however the truth is, the effect is more wider reaching. Not only will an increase in paternal leaves directly allow for a greater bonding and rearing experience for new fathers, but it will also allow them to shoulder more responsibility in their family structure. Thus, they can ease the burden which often falls on new mothers to enable them to re-enter the workforce or participate in more duties than solely rearing their infant.
The campaigners have provided an open letter to the UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer with their requests. It states the research that says, "Countries with 6 or more weeks paternity leave also have a gender pay gap that's 4% smaller and a workforce participation gap that is 3.7% smaller too, meaning change can help grow the economy while helping British families."
Sources: The Guardian, European Parliament, The Dad Shift UK
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