- Extending parental pay to more than 150,000 additional parents per year, including self-employed dads and partners who have previously missed out, giving eligible parents two weeks of support currently worth up to £194 a week so they can spend more time with their child.
Cat Smith welcomes expansion of paternity pay to self-employed fathers and non-birthing parents for the very first time, in a Budget measure aimed at giving hardworking families expecting a baby some room to breathe.
The support is worth up to £388.64 per qualifying parent, with around 80 self-employed dads in Lancaster and Wyre potentially eligible each year.
At present self-employed fathers are one of the only groups to receive no support at all when a new baby arrives despite paying national insurance contributions and all the well documented costs associated with the arrival of a newborn.
Builders, taxi drivers, shopkeepers face a brutal choice at the birth of a child – each day at home costing them lost income, with the Joseph Rowntree Foundation estimating an average loss of £1,020 if dads choose to take the two weeks leave from work full-time employees are entitled to.
JRF estimates around 70,000 self-employed dads across the UK could benefit each year, with financial support worth between £6.8 million–£18.9 million (depending on take-up) flowing to hard pressed families.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham said:
Imagine your baby’s just been born, and you’re back at work the next morning.That’s the reality for thousands of self-employed dads every year, because right now they have zero right to statutory paternity pay.I just don’t think it’s fair. So I’m changing it.We are introducing paid paternity leave for self-employed parents for the first time in British history.The same goes for parents who adopt, people who’ve only just started a new job, and parents who’ve recently lost theirs.If you work full time, that’s worth up to £194 extra a week – money in your pocket right when you need it most.It’s a vital first step. But I know there is more to do.
Cat Smith MP said:
“People who work for themselves help keep Lancaster and Wyre going. They’ve been left out of paternity pay for too long, and I’m pleased the Government is putting that right. It is a mark of respect for hard working people and the vital roles many also play as parents.”
“For local self-employed dads, this is help with the bills and a better chance to be at home with their new baby. I’ll make sure families here know what they can claim because in the middle of a cost of living crisis every penny matters to expecting families.”
“With the government review of parental leave due to conclude soon this isn’t the last word on the matter. Our statutory paternity leave offer as a whole is far shorter and worse paid than other countries and we need to do more to help dads support their partners, bond with their babies, and take their first steps figuring out what it means to be a father.”
George Gabriel, co-founder of The Dad Shift, said:
“Given all the costs expecting families face this is going to be a lifeline – a bit of room to breathe so self-employed dads and non-birthing parents can spend even a little time supporting their partners and bonding with their babies before heading out the door to pay the bills.”
“Being a decent dad is one of the most important things a man can do and the government deserves some credit for showing respect for the roles these self-employed dads can and want to play at home. We hope the government now take the opportunity of the Parental Leave Review to go even further, and give every dad a decent amount of time paid at a rate they can afford to take when a baby arrives.”
Notes to editors
National figures: JRF’s “UK paternity leave, limited and unequal”, published 16 March 2026, uses Family Resources Survey 2023/24 data. The 70,000 is a rounded population estimate, not the Government’s forecast of eligible applicants or claims. The costing is a prior estimate for extending the existing two-week offer, not the confirmed Budget score.
Local figures: The Dad Shift’s constituency model (October 2026) estimates the number of self-employed men in Lancaster and Wyre who become fathers each year, from the House of Commons Library’s estimate of babies born in the constituency (CBP-10529) and the ONS Annual Population Survey share of working men who are self-employed in the Lancaster council area (April 2022 to March 2026), scaled so that all 650 constituencies add up to JRF’s UK estimate of 70,000. How many qualify will depend on the final eligibility rules. These are modelled estimates, not observed claims.