Government begins wide ranging review of parental leave rights and update to bereavement leave and pay

The Government announced on 3 July that it had commenced a review of all parental leave and pay rights.

The Department for Work and Pensions and the Department for Business and Trade have launched the review, which is anticipated to take 18 months to complete. 

In our article we will look at the aims and objectives of the review, and also at the Government’s recent proposal to enable parents who experience pregnancy loss pre-24 weeks to receive bereavement leave.  

Aims and objectives of the review

The current system of parental rights is described by the Government as a “complex landscape” and includes several different types of leave and pay, including maternity, paternity, adoption, shared parental, neonatal care, parental bereavement leave, unpaid parental leave and maternity allowance. 

Of note are the statistics which will form part of the review, which can be found in the Government’s published summary of existing evidence: Parental leave and pay review: summary of existing evidence 

These show that the number of live births in Great Britain had decreased by over 20% by 2023 when compared to 2012, as the total number of births in 2012 was 787,701 vs 637,007 in 2023. 

In its summary of existing evidence, the Government also noted that in terms of demographics: 

• There had been higher uptake of leave rights among older, better-educated, higher-income parents in larger organisations.

• There has been lower awareness and uptake among ethnic minorities, those with lower qualifications and those in smaller workplaces.

The Government’s Terms of Reference for its review: Government review of the parental leave and pay system terms of reference sets out the aims for the review, which are broadly to: 

• set out objectives for the parental leave and pay system, considering what and for whom an improved system should deliver;

• obtain further evidence and understanding of the current system and considering what other countries do, looking at what is and is not working well for families and employers;

• consider how the system of parental leave and pay could work better to meet its objectives, including identifying options with low or no cost to business and the exchequer; and

• develop a roadmap for how to move to a system that better supports its objectives, considering the changes needed to deliver improvements within the current economic climate.

Also in its Terms of Reference, the Government proposed a number of objectives, which were:

• supporting the health and recovery of the mother after birth;.

• supporting economic growth by enabling more parents to stay in work after starting a family, reducing the gender pay gap and “motherhood penalty”;

• Providing sufficient resources and time off to support parental wellbeing and give children the best start in life; and

• supporting childcare choices that work for families, enabling co-parenting and flexibility. 

The first stage of the review is a public call for evidence that will run until 25 August 2025. 

We will provide further updates on progress of the review as they develop. 

Bereavement leave and pay 

In our April article, we covered the Government’s response to proposals to include pre-24 week pregnancy loss within the scope of bereavement leave: Government responds to proposals to include pre 24-week pregnancy loss in scope of bereavement leave.

We also explained the lack of protection for women suffering baby loss before 24 weeks of pregnancy. At the time, Labour acknowledged that more could be done to support parents who experience pregnancy loss before 24 weeks, but did not commit to any specific changes to the Employment Rights Bill (ERB). 

Instead, the Government said it would consider the issue further as the ERB continued through the House of Lords.  

An update on the issue had been awaited since and was finally received on 7 July 2025, when the Government announced that the ERB would be amended:  Employment Rights Bill to increase bereavement leave for families who face pregnancy loss. The announcement came shortly before the ERB was due to enter its Report Stage in the House of Lords on 14 July.

Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds commented: “Grief doesn’t follow a timetable, and expanding rights to leave for pregnancy loss will ensure every family gets the time they need to heal without worrying about their job.” 

The exact amount of leave remains to be consulted on this Autumn, but is anticipated to be at least one week.  However there has been no commitment for the leave to be paid.

The proposed definition of “pregnancy loss” where bereavement leave will apply is wide and would cover the ending of a pregnancy before 24 weeks in any way, therefore including medical termination and IVF embryo transfer loss. 

It is unlikely that the new entitlement would come in until 2027 and there is no clarity about what evidence (if any) could be requested from employees seeking to take leave. 

In our view, if the leave is unpaid, it is likely to have a low uptake as it may simply be unusable for those entitled to it, and those who are able may instead be forced to opt for sick leave, as this at least has an entitlement to statutory pay attached. 

This would certainly be contrary to the aims of introducing this leave in the first place.  The Women and Equalities Committee highlighted in its report (see our previous article above) that sick leave was inappropriate and inadequate in the aftermath of a miscarriage or pregnancy loss and the low rate of SSP meant many employees could not afford to take the time off they needed.  

Employers may want to consider whether they can take steps to address pre-24 week pregnancy loss within their own organisations rather than waiting for this to become a statutory right.  In particular, employers should consider whether they can afford to pay their employees affected by bereavement in these circumstances irrespective of any legal requirement to do so.

If you would like to discuss any aspect of this article further, please contact our employment team on 0113 244 6100. 

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The information in this article is necessarily of a general nature. The law stated is correct at the date (stated above) this article was first posted to our website.

Specific advice should be sought for specific situations. If you have any queries or need any legal advice please feel free to contact Wrigleys Solicitors.