Modern Daddies

Matthew Taylor, Chief Executive of the RSA, is getting slightly excited about parental leave. He blogs:

"In the wake of the recent decision to allow parents to share their entitlement to time off work after the birth of a child, the question is whether the state should be encouraging fathers to be more sharing and caring and whether, in view of the mixed evidence on whether fathers actually want to change their role, such encouragement will work."

And he goes on:

"In this case the Government does appear to be in the business of social engineering. As there is little evidence that ministers are responding to overwhelming public demand, accountability requires that we have an open and thorough debate about why."

But is not the status quo already a form of social engineering? The only difference is that the status quo is one that reinforces the traditional role of mothers and the change is one that gives families more choice over what arrangements would work best for them. It's hardly revolutionary. It's common sense. Things have been arranged like this in Germany, for example, for ages. I'm glad that the UK is catching up.