'Got to go further' | Hundreds of dads plaster 'paternity charge' notices over the UK to protest underpaid paternity leave

Hundreds of dads and non-birthing parents in over fifty locations across the country have started issuing “Paternity Charge Notices” on buggies and other baby items in public spaces, in a bid to raise awareness of poor paternity pay and the cost of raising a newborn.

The notes, which exactly resemble parking tickets, inform those returning to find them that “Costs for so many things have soared in the past few years, but the country's paternity leave system remains stuck in the past.”

“Dads and non-birthing parents get just two weeks on less than half the minimum wage, £374.36 for the fortnight - not even enough to buy the average pram. Self-employed people get nothing. It's the worst offer in Europe and massive financial pressure is wrecking the health of working dads and their families.”

The message is born out by polling conducted for The Dad Shift and global men’s health charity Movember, of a representative sample of new fathers. 62% of new dads agreed that “my family and I struggled under the pressure that comes when a new baby arrives”.