New research from Working Families and Bright Horizons has warned that 70% of dads would like more flexible working in order to have further involvement in family life.

This is so they can complete activities such as dropping and picking their children up from school/nursery.

The survey found that 38% of working dads would take a pay cut and 47% would downgrade into a less stressful job, if it meant they could spend more time with their family. Specifically looking at millennial fathers, these figures increase, with 53% stating they would change to a less stressful job and 48% saying they would take a pay cut, if they could have a healthier work life balance.

There is a risk that the ‘fatherhood penalty’, which is the term used when fathers stall their career to find a better way to balance their work with family life, will become more apparent in the workplace. This is because employers are being unsupportive of fathers’ aspirations to take more time to care for their family, according to the survey. Employers must now try to make work flexible for both men and women to accommodate this.

The Women and Equalities Committee has launched an inquiry regarding the level of support fathers receive from their employers.

By organisations making all roles flexible and looking at what can be achieved in the hours available to employees, flexible working can be given to fathers seeking more time to spend with their family.