Family-friendly rights in the Employment Rights Act 2025 and the endurance of traditional household arrangements

This paper examines how the family-friendly rights under the Employment Rights Act 2025 only partially remedy the longstanding weaknesses in UK work – family reconciliation policies that contribute towards many families adopting traditional household arrangements. Currently, the policies provide stronger entitlements for mothers than fathers to encourage mothers to be primarily responsible for childcare and fathers to be economic breadwinners. The Women and Committee had previously identified the following 4 key weaknesses in the policy design: (i) strict eligibility requirements; (ii) low levels of replacement pay; (iii) short-term flexibility; and (iv) maternal gatekeeping. The Labour Party pledged during their 2024 election campaign to reform family-friendly rights by introducing the Employment Rights Bill within its first 100 days in power. The Act, which received Royal Assent in December 2025, addresses some of these shortcomings through the removal of strict eligibility requirements to access leave, the promotion of greater workplace flexibility and the enhanced protection against the dismissal of pregnant workers and employees who have taken statutory family leave. However, this paper argues for further legal reform inspired by the ‘Nordic model’, which offers lengthy and well-paid entitlements to parents in Nordic countries that encourage adherence to the dual earner/carer model.