A number of cultural and financial barriers appear set to impede the take-up of the shared parental leave scheme, according to a report by the Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM).
It found that just 10% of new fathers currently took more than two weeks of paternity leave, falling to 2% among managers.
From April 2015, families will be granted the opportunity to share leave in the first year of their child's birth, with eligible mothers and their partners able to take up to 52 weeks of leave in total, to be shared between them either in alternating blocks or taken together.
While employers will not be able to refuse leave, they will be able to insist it is taken as a single block.
The report indicated that employers were culturally less accepting of a father's right to take paternity leave.
Almost two-thirds (63%) of employees felt their company was supportive of mothers taking up to a year's maternity leave, yet 58% felt their employer was supportive of fathers taking just two weeks.
"The introduction of shared parental leave is a crucial step towards enabling more women to progress into senior roles," said ILM chief executive Charles Elvin.
"Yet our research revealed cultural barriers are impeding the uptake of both two weeks statutory paternity leave and additional paternity leave."
Financial pressure was also a key consideration in new fathers' return to work, with managers in particular feeling under pressure to return both due to expectations of their employer or peers as well as financial reasons.
Just 9% of new fathers receive full pay longer than two weeks when on paternity leave, while 70% of new mothers receive full pay between one and 38 weeks, according to a Department for Work and Pensions survey.
As part of the new shared parental leave legislation, employers will not be required to enhance paternity pay to the same level as enhanced maternity pay, though they can choose to if they wish. The ILM believes that this difference in maternity and paternity pay has created a "significant financial disparity" which has "undoubtedly" impacted the uptake of paternity leave.
Earlier this month, Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) flexible working and shared parental leave and pay assistant director Kim Wager said that take up of the government's new scheme was likely to be between just 1% and 4%.
