Fifth of UK dads faked illness to carry out childcare responsibilities

“Decision-makers must move to ensure policy supports all working parents— we need parental leave that works for both men and women if we are to tackle gender disparities and create fair and happy societies.”
man in white shirt carrying boy

New research, *reveals one in five (19%) dads have faked illness at work to manchildcare duties, highlighting a need for workplace culture to shift so men can increase their involvement in parenting.

The research assessed the attitudes towards fathers taking parental leave in the workplace and reveals 20% of dads have changed jobs to better reconcile work and family obligations.

The challenging nature of workplace attitudes towards male parenting roles is evident: nearly half of fathers have been discriminated against for taking care of their children; 12% suffered a job loss after exercising their right to take parental leave or to work flexibly to care for a child, while 10% experienced a demotion. 13% suffered verbal abuse, and another 13% were mocked for their actions.

Just under a third (30%) believe fear of the negative impact on their career prevented them from being as involved in childcare as they wanted.

A lack of flexible working options in the workplace are also cited as a barrier to fathers’ involvement with their children: eight in ten fathers believe flexible working would help them care for their children, and over half (54.3%) find their work schedule prevents them from doing as much childcare as they want to.

Andrew Johnson, MD of PowWowNow, commented on the findings: “As a result of the coronavirus pandemic, the majority of businesses have now put the technologies and processes in place to facilitate remote working, and workforces are accustomed to these practices. There is no longer any excuse for companies not to provide flexible working options going forward to empower fathers to better balance work and family commitments. These need to include flexible hours as well as remote working options.

“With most of the UK workforce currently working at home, parents have been taking on bigger childcare burdens while balancing work. Decision-makers must move to ensure policy supports all working parents— we need parental leave that works for both men and women if we are to tackle gender disparities and create fair and happy societies.”

*Research from PowWowNow,

Read more

Latest News

Read More

Why so many smart leaders are terrible at leading people

29 July 2025

Talent Management

29 July 2025

Deepfake interviews. Synthetic faces. Tampered documents. As generative AI reshapes identity fraud, traditional screening methods are being put to the test. Giant Screening CEO Mathew...

Worklife Balance

28 July 2025

The issue isn’t just about time management; it’s about mental bandwidth. The cognitive load of managing multiple priorities can leave little room for self-care, creativity,...

Newsletter

Receive the latest HR news and strategic content

Please note, as per the GDPR Legislation, we need to ensure you are ‘Opted In’ to receive updates from ‘theHRDIRECTOR’. We will NEVER sell, rent, share or give away your data to third parties. We only use it to send information about our products and updates within the HR space To see our Privacy Policy – click here

Latest HR Jobs

Queen Mary University of London – IT Services DirectorateSalary: £54,617 to £60,901 per annum

University of Sussex – Human Resources Salary: £25,733 to £29,179. Grade 4, per annum, pro rata if part time

UCL – Chemistry Department / Faculty of Mathematical & Physical SciencesSalary: £54,172 to £63,752

University of Oxford – Department of PsychiatrySalary: £31,459 to £36,616 (discretionary range to £39,749) per annum. Grade 5

Read the latest digital issue of theHRDIRECTOR for FREE

Read the latest digital issue of theHRDIRECTOR for FREE