“I came back to a load of photocopying,” says tax specialist Richard Cahill of his return to work at a major international company after the birth of his second child.

“Basically they wanted to make the point that they weren’t happy with me,” he says of his former employers.

He had taken the time off under government rules which since 2015 have allowed mums and dads to share parental leave – but according to a new report from MPs, his story is typical of many working fathers who want to take a more equal share of childcare but fear their employers’ reaction if they ask for flexible work.

Government efforts to support fathers in the workplace have not yet delivered despite good intentions, says the report, from MPs on the Women and Equalities Committee.   More