Tue, 27 Jan 2026

Tue, 27 Jan 2026 Parental leave system 'not equal for all families'

Families should have parental leave access and single parents should have more help, a report says.
Jersey's government needs to do more to ensure all families benefit from the island's parental leave system, a scrutiny panel has found.
* Single-parent families are "structurally disadvantaged" under the current system
* Access to parental leave is granted on a parent-by-parent basis, not per family, resulting in single-parent families receiving half of the total leave available to two-parent households
* Children from single-parent families may miss out on caring time with their parents, impacting their healthy development
* Many groups, including low and middle-income families, cannot afford to take all of their parental leave
* The panel recommends providing extra support for single-parent families, such as more paid leave
* Existing leave entitlements should be extended to grandparents and other family members who take care-giving roles
* An action plan to address these issues is to be presented to the States Assembly by 2027 The review also highlighted that:
* Businesses, particularly smaller ones, have struggled with the legal changes, resulting in: + Increased costs for companies + Difficulty recruiting and retaining staff + Companies considering folding due to the burden of parental leave payments
* Communication around parental rights needs to be improved urgently for both businesses and employees
* 55 findings were made by the review panel, many related to the cost of raising children in Jersey.
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