International Men’s Day

Maya Ellis Excerpts

Thursday 20th November 2025 Commons Chamber

[Maya Ellis (Ribble Valley) (Lab)]

I gave my handyman a to-do list the other day, but he only finished items 1, 3, and 5. Turns out he only does odd jobs.

I know, that is a terrible joke, but as the Dad Shift and my colleagues across the Chamber are highlighting, paternity leave in this country is also a terrible joke, and it is letting our brilliant men down. We must do better.

Before I was a socialist, I was a feminist—and a precocious one at that. I was about 17 when I read a book called “Shattered: Modern Motherhood and the Illusion of Equality”. Quite apart from all its valid analysis of equality going to the wall after women have babies, the fact that most horrified me was that husbands could not stay in hospital with their wives after their baby was born. What was this medieval treatment that the writer was telling me still happened in the UK? Of course 20 years later, it still often happens.

It was at that moment that all my illusions about equality having been largely achieved were shattered. I had grown up on the girl bosses of the ’80s, such as the glorious late Diane Keaton in “Baby Boom”, but how could there be equality if it was only in the workplace and not in the home? How can we have equality in the home if men are shut out the very moment they become parents

On this International Men’s Day, my plea to the Government is that they take this once-in-a-generation chance to lock in six weeks’ paternity leave at full pay, paid by the Government. Many studies have shown that the earlier men get involved in caring for their children, the more equal the distribution of work in the home becomes—and the amount of conflict reduces, too. No man goes into a marriage or becomes a dad wanting conflict. I fundamentally believe that the key to unlocking true equality is ensuring that men have as much of an appreciation as women of what it takes to care for a family and a home.

I could spend all day reading Members a love letter to fatherhood. I have said before in this place that I would not be here if my husband had not chosen to be a brilliant father holding down the fort at home—while still running his own successful business. I see my friends’ husbands trying so hard to be the dad that they often did not have themselves. We are letting men down by not giving them the money, structures and role models to help them embrace this huge experience in life, from which men in generations past have been excluded.

Only last week, I spoke with firefighters at Fulwood fire station in my Ribble Valley constituency. They said that when the funding for a post within a shift team is cut, the flexibility of the rest of the team, most of whom have families, is the first thing that is affected. Those men—and women—want to be present parents, and we should enable them to be great public servants and great dads.

I am a huge fan of how the internet and social media can connect people, so I cannot celebrate fatherhood without giving shout-outs to some of the brilliant creators on Instagram and elsewhere who make dads feel less alone. Dean Walker—AKA Fun Dad Dean—and comedian George Lewis give dads role models for modern parenting. They give light relief and offer a reminder that being a dad is hard for everyone and that dads are doing their best. In the depth of parenting exhaustion, I know that many of us communicate by sending their videos back and forth, and I am sure they have prevented a few explosive arguments—I may or may not be speaking from personal experience.

As the incomparable Emmeline Pankhurst said,

“We have to free half of the human race, the women, so that they can help free the other half.”

I am glad to be here today, and in this Government, to do my bit to help free the other half, as they have helped to free me. I look forward to this Government taking the single biggest next step they could make towards equality, by introducing six weeks’ paternity leave at full pay, paid by the Government.