AN INQUIRY has been launched to find out if fathers are being failed in the workplace.

The investigation by the UK Government’s Women and Equalities Committee follows a report that found sharing the care of children between fathers and mothers is key to reducing the gender pay gap.

The report, published by the committee last March, also found that many fathers want to take on more caring responsibilities for their children, and that the government’s flagship policy of Shared Parental Leave is likely to have little impact. Introduced in 2015, it has a predicted take-up rate of just two to eight per cent.

“Our report on the gender pay gap found that investing in policies that support men to share childcare equally, and allow women to continue working, will reap financial benefits as well as reducing the gender pay gap,” said Tory MP Maria Miller, chairwoman of the committee. “Supporting parents in the workplace is a priority for the government. Yet it admits that its flagship Shared Parental Leave policy is likely to have a very low take-up rate.

“Following our work on the gender pay gap, the Women and Equalities Committee is now asking whether fathers are being failed in the workplace. Clearly more needs to be done. We are keen to hear views from individuals as well as organisations about the changes which they would like to see. Many fathers want to take a more active role in caring for their children.”

Last year’s report highlighted the lack of effective policy in many of the areas that contribute to the gender pay gap. It found that the key causes of pay differentials are the part-time pay penalty, women’s disproportionate responsibility for childcare and other forms of unpaid caring, and the concentration of women in highly feminised, low-paid sectors like care, retail and cleaning.

Although the government has committed to eliminating the 19.2 per cent pay gap within a generation, it has remained at around the same level for the past four years.

Women aged over 40 are most affected by the gender pay gap, with women aged 50-59 facing a 27 per cent differential. Evidence suggests that the barriers to well-paid work currently experienced by women over 40 will continue unless action is taken to address the root causes of the gender pay gap.

The inquiry is seeking evidence on issues such as how well fathers feel their current working arrangements help them fulfil their caring responsibilities for children of all ages, whether there are employment-related barriers to fathers sharing caring roles more equally, and whether fathers have the financial support to enable them to fulfil their caring responsibilities.

The investigation also wants to find out if there are social or attitudinal barriers to fathers in the workplace, or challenges for fathers working in particular employment sectors.

In addition, the committee will consider whether changes in the workplace – such as an increase in freelance, agency or casual working – might have had an impact and what role the government, employers and other stakeholders could play in overcoming these barriers.

It is hoped that the investigation will be able to shed light on the policy or legislative changes that would be most effective in supporting fathers to fulfil their caring responsibilities, as well as examples in the UK or internationally of best practice among employers that could be taken up more widely.

It will also examine whether there are specific issues facing fathers from particular groups or backgrounds, for example because of their income or ethnicity, or fathers of disabled children and young people.

The committee is accepting written submissions until March 1, 2017.