Parental leave and pay for new parents to be reviewed 8 hours ago Share Save Nathan Standley BBC News Share Save Getty Images The amount of time off and pay new parents can get after the birth of a child will be looked at in a "landmark" review, the government says. Ministers said they wanted to modernise the system across paternity, maternity and shared parental leave, which campaigners said had been "overlooked for years". Campaign group The Dad Shift called the review the "best chance in a generation to improve the system and make sure it actually works for working families".

A committee of MPs recently called the UK's parental leave system "one of the worst in the developed world" with "fundamental flaws". Shadow business secretary Andrew Griffith said jobs would be lost if more costs were "piled on to employers". June's report by the Women and Equalities Committee said "bold" action was needed to address those flaws, but warned that any changes would require significant investment.

Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said businesses, like parents, had been telling ministers that the system needed a "serious looking at". "We haven't had a serious look at parental leave for several decades now in the UK," he said. "The time is now, and if people have got strong views on that, I want them to come and get involved."

The shadow business secretary said: "If you've no job in the first place it doesn't matter how much family leave you get."