Robert Cumming raises a good point in saying that labour laws needs to be reformed to ensure equality of pay.

There is a huge groundswell of opinion, among women as much as men, that new paternity rights ought to be ‘use it or lose it but on no account be allowed to transfer it to your wife’.

Plenty of us of both sexes choose not to take long (or any) leave when we have children. I took two weeks of my annual leave over 20 years ago to give birth to my first three children, two of whom are now trainee solicitors.

When women are treated with no opprobrium for doing so compared with men; when men do as much at home as women; when women refuse even for a day to tolerate an iota of sexism at home; when men are as likely as women to be finding and hiring a nanny; then we might inch towards more equal pay.

Some women also need to become better at trumpeting their triumphs and at asking for higher pay at work. Mr Cumming is wrong, however, to suggest that reforming labour laws should be the primary focus.

The greater hurdle is the sexism of those who assume men will be the ones working full-time. This is sexist and unfair on men – and couples should better negotiate their domestic arrangements in a non-sexist way.

If many of us were doing this nearly 30 years ago I am sure it is possible today.

Susan Singleton, Principal, Singletons, Pinner