Paternity leave: How much time off work do new dads get across Europe?

Becoming a new dad can be significantly impacted by the amount of paternity leave available to fathers, and a report published this week suggests UK dads fare poorly compared to what's on offer elsewhere in Europe.

BBC News spoke to dads in different countries about how much time they can take off work after the birth of their children - and how that's changed fatherhood for them.

When Jamie's daughter Kiara was born three years ago, he says it was "incredibly difficult".

"I had to watch my partner struggle looking after our child," Jamie says. "The biggest thing I was the crying. My daughter clearly needed and my wife was noticeably struggling and exhausted."

A few weeks after Kiara was born, Jamie's mother-in-law flew from Zimbabwe to the family, because Jamie was only entitled to statutory paternity leave.

Rules in the UK allow new fathers and second parents in full-time employment to take up to two weeks off work. That applies to all partners, regardless of gender, after the birth, surrogacy or adoption of a baby, but not those who are self-employed or dads earning less than £123 a week.

Those eligible receive £187.18 a week, or 90% of their average earnings, whichever is lower. This works out as less than half of the National Living Wage.

Jamie, from Ashford in Kent, says the statutory pay "was frankly pennies".

He and his partner are now expecting their second child, in August - something they began saving for before Jamie's wife Zanele even fell pregnant.

Jamie says his "frustration" about paternity pay led him to attend the world's first "dad strike" earlier this week, when fathers from across the country protested outside the government's Department for Business and Trade in Westminster.

"Seeing things change relatively recently in other countries... why are we not keeping up":[]}