The policy covers all new parents, including men, women, non-binary people, same-sex families, and those who are adopting or foster parenting. The changes made by Barclays are effective 1 July 2023.

“We are continually investing in our employees and refining our benefits to ensure Barclays remains a great place to work”, said Richard Haworth, CEO of Barclays’ Americas business.

Birthmothers are currently eligible for recovery leave beginning right after their child’s birth and running in parallel with their childcare leave. Starting on 1 July 2023, birth mothers can take recovery leave before their 16 weeks of childcare leave.

This change will allow them to take time to recover from childbirth before beginning their childcare responsibilities.

The current childcare leave policy provides primary caregivers with 16 weeks of paid childcare leave and non-primary caregivers with six weeks of paid childcare leave.

The change in childcare policies comes after, in April, the bank declared a 27% rise in net profit, beating analysts’ expectations.