When Labour came to power in 1997, British women had some of the worst maternity rights in the developed world. New mothers were entitled to only four months off work on pay of £55.70 a week.

Even though there was no manifesto pledge to overhaul the system, women ministers and MPs drove through reforms that resulted in nine months of paid leave within a decade, two weeks’ paid paternity leave and a right to request flexible work for both parents. All political parties have now signed up to the new regime.

However, in their haste to catch up with the rest of Europe and give new mothers a better deal, Labour ministers lost sight of the bigger picture. Bringing up children is increasingly a shared task and some, though not all, fathers want more time off work to do their bit.

They also overlooked a massive pitfall. Giving such generous leave to mothers only has made women a far less attractive prospect to employers. Bosses quite rightly question the wisdom of hiring young women, promoting or lavishing training on them if they are going to disappear for 12 months and then ask to come back three days a week. Sir Alan Sugar was pilloried when he claimed that many employers bin the CVs of women of childbearing age, but he was voicing an inconvenient truth.

The proposals outlined today should make the Government think again. Ministers’ only concession to fathers at the moment is that when maternity leave is extended to a year the second six months could be offered to them if the mother is going back to work. This misses the point. Fathers are integral to the upbringing of children. Getting time off work is not something that they should need to ask their wife for. Even if it means that mothers can afford to take less leave when a baby is born, fathers deserve something in their own right.

And if fathers are entitled to paid time off work, it levels the playing field in the office. Employers cannot really afford to bin the CVs of everyone under the age of 40.

The major drawback of the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s plan is the cost. With public borrowing already spiralling, £5.3 billion a year is not so easy to come by. Generous paid leave for mothers and fathers alike may have to wait a little longer.

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