THE government’s review into parental leave must overhaul Britain’s “broken” system and not merely “tinker at the edges,” MPs warned today.

The women and equalities committee (WEC) published a report in June, which concluded that Britain has “one of the worst leave offers in the developed world for fathers and other parents.”

The current maximum of two weeks of statutory paternity leave is “completely out of step with how most couples want to share their parenting responsibilities” and “entrenches outdated gender stereotypes about caring,” it said.

In its response today, the government acknowledged that the system “needs improvement,” and confirmed that its review into parental leave and pay, announced in July, will last about 18 months.

The WEC’s report highlighted a litany of issues, including low statutory pay, the “unnecessary complexity” of the shared parental leave (SPL) scheme, and the lack of provisions for self-employed parents.

The government said that it “recognises the recommendations in relation to self-employed parents,” saying: “Fairness and equality will be, among others, a cross-cutting consideration of the review, including the consideration of building a fair system between parents of different employment statuses.

“The review represents an opportunity to reset our approach to parental leave and pay and what we want the system to achieve a consideration of shared parental leave will be key to this.”

It said that a start on changes had already been made, including plans to make paternity and unpaid parental leave a “day one” right under the upcoming Employment Rights Bill.

WEC chairwoman Sarah Owen said the review must be a “watershed moment” which leads to far-reaching improvements.

“WEC’s report warned tinkering around the edges of a broken system will let down working parents,” she said.

“It is disappointing there is no definite commitment in the government’s response to longer, better paid paternity leave during this Parliament, as change is much needed and long overdue.

“The forthcoming review must address the ‘fundamental failings’ in the existing system, improve gender equality, tackle the motherhood penalty, and act on the strong evidence of the economic and societal benefits in the medium and longer term of government investment.”