80% of fathers at Aviva have taken five months of paternity leave

More than three-quarters (80%) of fathers working at insurance provider Aviva have taken at least five months of paternity leave, according to its equal parental leave data.

The analysis found that equal parental leave has now been taken by more than 2,500 employees at Aviva, with almost half (1,227) being men. A total of 268 parents have taken equal parental leave more than once, including 131 men taking it twice, while 79% of men have taken more than five months for subsequent children.

The average length of paternity leave taken has increased by three weeks during the past four years, rising from 21 weeks in 2018 to 24 in 2021. Meanwhile, the average length of maternity leave has decreased, from 45 weeks in 2018 to 43 weeks in 2021.

Since 2017, Aviva has offered up to one year of leave, with 26 weeks at full basic pay for parents employed by the provider within the first 12 months of a child’s arrival. This applies to employees in all UK offices and locations.

Aviva’s parental leave policy entitlement includes an equal amount of paid and unpaid parental leave for the birth of a child, adoption and surrogacy, and is available to both full-time and part-time employees. There is no requirement to share the parental leave between parents, and if both are employees, they each have their own leave and pay entitlement, which they can take at the same time.

Danny Harmer, chief people officer at Aviva, said: “Equal parental leave is now an important part of our culture at Aviva as a family-friendly employer. While organisations must keep challenging themselves to do more to build a workplace that is inclusive for everyone, to have equality at work, achieving equality in society and at home is critical.

“We know that if businesses offer parental leave and, importantly, make it acceptable for dads to take it, they will. This helps to challenge gender stereotypes about breadwinner and caregiver roles.”