Edington, 34, from Lowestoft who works in Norfolk and Suffolk, informed BBC Politics East’s Your Shout segment he started work as a carpenter when he was 15 and had been self-employed for nearly five years.
“I’ve now obtained a two-and-a-half-year-old baby girl. The best thing that has ever happened to me.
“For us self-employed guys there is no paternity pay. We don’t receive any support. We don’t receive any support.
“There’s maternity pay where the females receive money even if they are self-employed, but there’s nothing for us.”
He declared other countries in Europe provide more support for self-employer dads.
“If you view at other countries, whether it is Norway or Sweden, Germany or Italy and Spain – the support they have for self-employed guys is through the roof compared to us,” he declared.
“We are receiveting punished for being self-employed. Absolutely zero support.
“My message to the government is to give us a bit more support.
“We want to be there for our families. For example if our partner has gone through a difficult birth you want to be there to support them, but we can’t becaapply we have to rush back to work.”
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