Dads and charity leaders in the north-east of England have backed a campaign calling on the government to improve paternity leave.
New fathers currently get up to two weeks consecutive statutory leave, paid at £187.18 a week, or 90% of their average weekly earnings.
Campaign group The Dad Shift said it was the least generous paternity leave in Europe.
The government has said it will launch a "full review" into paternity and shared leave.
Scott Luke, a father of two in Wallsend, told the BBC how he had struggled following the birth of his daughter because paternity leave did not give him enough time or pay to care for his wife and bond with his new child.
He told the BBC: "My partner Victoria had a C-section with our second born, I took two weeks' annual leave and two weeks' paternity.
"When I went back to work, I just didn't feel ready.
"I was worried about my partner being at home with two children, a very boisterous toddler and a new born baby.
"I lost around £1,400 of pay."
Alex Lloyd Hunter, co-founder of national charity The Dad Shift, said the UK's paternity provision was bad for both mothers and fathers, because it limited the choices families had about who could return to work and who looked after the children.
He said: "As a bare minimum we think the government needs to move to six weeks paid at 90% of your salary – that's what you get in the first part of maternity leave.
"Longer term, you can look at countries like Spain where you get sixteen weeks and Sweden, which offers each parent 90 days and then 300 days to share between them."
