No, no, not the American father’s rights movement: as far as I can tell, they’re still mostly focused on blaming all problems on their ex-wives and seeking creative new ways to avoid paying child support.<\/p>\n
For all I know the British “father’s lobby” does all that, too, but they also campaign for useful<\/i> changes<\/a>:<\/p>\n These moves come after a growing recognition, highlighted last year by Julie Mellor, chairwoman of the Equal Opportunities Commission, that more action is needed to make sure that men achieve a work-life balance.<\/p>\n Duncan Fisher, director of Fathers Direct, called on ministers to capitalise on this support: “The Government’s goal should be to give mothers and fathers better opportunities to raise their children and to achieve success at work.”<\/p><\/div>\n I really loved the proposal for a presumptive right to flexible work hours, with the burden placed on the employer to prove that they can’t offer flexible hours. The willingness to stand up to business is what makes it clear this isn’t taking place in the USA; business interests are such a sacred cow here.<\/p>\n But it’s necessary to stand up to business if we’re going to switch over from a “father knows best” economy (in which employers assume that all workers have a wife at home, and thus have no family obligations) to a family-friendly economy, which recognizes that all <\/i>workers may have family responsibilities that employers will have to allow for..<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" No, no, not the American father’s rights movement: as far as I can tell, they’re still mostly focused on blaming all problems on their ex-wives and seeking creative new ways to avoid paying child support. For all I know the … Continue reading
\nThe charter is published by the campaigning charity Fathers Direct on the first anniversary of the Government’s work-life balance reforms. It calls for paternity leave to be paid at 90 per cent of men’s earnings, instead of the current flat rate of \u00a3100 a week. It also demands that all parents have the right to flexible working, unless an employer can demonstrate that it would damage the business. […]<\/p>\n