Should the government mandate that fathers receive the exact same amount of fully paid parental leave as mothers?

The UK currently offers mothers up to 52 weeks of maternity leave (with a portion paid), while fathers are only entitled to 1-2 weeks of statutory paternity leave. Proponents argue that this massive disparity reinforces archaic gender roles, limits women's career advancement (the "motherhood penalty"), and denies fathers crucial bonding time with their newborns. Opponents argue that imposing equal, fully paid leave for both parents would place a crippling financial burden on taxpayers and small businesses, and that mothers biologically require more guaranteed time off to physically recover from childbirth. Proponents support this as a progressive step toward absolute gender equality in the workforce and home. Opponents oppose this as an economically unfeasible policy that ignores the physiological realities of childbirth.