Three in five dads in the UK take some paternity leave, but the primary reason why leave is not taken or is kept as minimal as possible is financial, with many unable to afford the luxury of spending time with their newborns. Shared parental leave – usually the only way to take more than a couple of weeks – is a headache to understand let alone apply for, and usually relies on the mother giving up part of her own leave. We looked into it with our first child, but it would have left us worse off financially, so we opted not to pursue it.