PARENTS are joining protests today to demand more support for mothers and fathers juggling work and family life.

Campaign groups Flex Appeal and the Dad Shift have organised events in towns and cities across the country, including Downing Street, Holyrood and the Welsh Senedd.

The groups are calling for companies to embrace flexible working by default and for six weeks’ paternity leave, paid at 90 per cent of salary, as a government review on parental leave nears its final stages.

Dr Jeremy Davies of the Fatherhood Institute said: “People say: ‘Don’t have a baby if you can’t afford it.’

“Well, our new figures confirm that for lower-income couples in the UK, having a baby in 2026 means plunging yourselves into serious debt.

“It’s mums who bear the brunt, thanks to our hugely gendered parental leave system that treats fathers like workhorses and mothers like unpaid interns.”

The Fatherhood Institute said its research found that new parents in Britain faced “significant financial impacts” in their baby’s first year, driven by reduced income and increased expenses.

Average-earning couples see their joint income fall by about 34 per cent, it suggested.