Postgraduate Dissertation


Why is Shared Parental Leave (SPL) uptake so low and whose responsibility is it to promote SPL, from the secondary caregiver’s perspective?

Abstract

Shared Parental Leave (SPL) uptake rates are extremely low. However, little is known about the considerations made by parents when deciding whether or not take SPL. Much less is explored from the perspective of the secondary caregiver. This research aims to develop an understanding from the secondary caregiver’s perspective of the considerations that are made when choosing whether to take SPL in order to gage why SPL rates are so low. The research also aims to discover who should be responsible for promoting SPL from the perspective of the secondary caregiver. Nine semi structured interviews were conducted with employees at differing hierarchical levels across the same business. Thematic analysis was used to explore the themes that emerged throughout the interviews. The research found that Secondary caregivers have many different pressures placed upon them from different angles which encourages them to stay at work, rather than taking SPL. These come in the form of affordability, gender roles and expectations, cultural implications, lack of awareness of SPL and how SPL can affect the family relationships. Secondary caregivers also have career concerns relating to missed opportunities and how their employer may view them. Observations about both the government and the employer being responsible for promoting SPL were also made. This study adds to the existing literature surrounding the topic of SPL uptake. By taking into account the perspective of the secondary caregiver, more understanding was bought to the current literature and new considerations about SPL were discovered. However, considerations around having only few participants meant that new concepts couldn’t be explored as deeply as they could have possibly been. Responsibility of promotion of SPL is a new topic to be researched, which needs a wide-reaching quantitative study to view patterns among different answers.


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Authors

Rowlands, Emma

Contributors

Rights Holders: Rowlands, Emma

Oxford Brookes departments

Oxford Brookes Business School

Degree programme

MA Human Resource Management

Year

2022


© Rowlands, Emma
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