Two thirds of Dutch dads would like more time off with their children, according to research involving 1,788 fathers by the Rutgers Foundation.

Fathers in the Netherlands currently get two days paid leave when their children are born, but this is to be expanded to five in 2019.

A majority of fathers polled by Rutgers, a nationwide institute for sexual and reproductive health, said that five days would not be enough either. New mothers have several months paid leave.

Rutgers said support for longer paternity leave was apparent across the political spectrum, apart from among supporters of the orthodox Protestant party SGP. Just four in 10 SGP supporters thought paternity leave should be longer. The party believes in strictly separate rolls for men and women and does not believe women should vote.

All parties, except the PVV, VVD, SGP and 50Plus include a commitment to longer paternity leave in their manifestos for the March general election.

Fathers in the Netherlands are able to take unpaid leave, spread out over several months, to take care of their offspring but currently only around one in four do so.