Parliament debate on need for better maternity pay quotes Maternity Action research

By Kate Moran, Senior Policy Officer

Surveys undertaken by Maternity Action in early 2022 and early 2023 on the impact of the cost of living crisis show that the financial situation for women taking a period of maternity leave and their families has worsened as the cost of living crisis has deepened. Women are more worried about money when pregnant or taking a period of maternity leave; they are more likely to have relied on a credit card or borrowed money to cover the costs of maternity leave; and they are much more likely to be planning to return to work earlier than they wanted to, often before they are physically ready to do so, due to money worries.

We were therefore delighted to hear that the Petitions Committee had scheduled a debate on 19th?June to discuss an e-petition calling on the government to review the rate of statutory maternity pay (SMP) in line with inflation and the cost of living.

Maternity Action quickly produced a?briefing for MPs?in advance of the debate, setting out the findings of our surveys and demonstrating how SMP has fallen in value in recent years.

The petition was moved by Catherine McKinnell MP, Chair of the Petitions Committee.?Ros Bragg, Director of Maternity Action, met with Ms McKinnell in advance of the debate to talk through our survey findings and the changes needed.?The current basic rate of statutory maternity and other parental pay of ￡172.48 per week (from April 2023) equates to just 47.3% of the National Living Wage (for a 35-hour week at the adult rate of ￡10.42 per hour = ￡364.70 per week). Just a decade ago, in 2012, the basic rate equated to 62.5% of a 35-hour week on the National Living Wage (previously known as the National Minimum Wage).

The additional worries about incurring mounting debt during maternity leave are adding to feelings of stress and anxiety among new mothers, often causing serious mental health problems and feelings of failure about being unable to provide for and support their young families. For all women, stress during pregnancy increases risks of poor health for mother and baby, including lower birth weight and premature birth.

As highlighted in Maternity Action’s briefing paper Ms McKinnell noted:

“The UK has one of the least generous support programmes for new mothers among OECD countries, with only Ireland and the USA offering less. Add a near-unprecedented cost of living situation to that state of affairs, and we are not far off a crisis”.?

She clearly set out the wide ranging and long term detrimental impacts of mothers’ financial struggles.?How financial and mental stress is leading to an increase in perinatal mental illness which in turn impacts on babies throughout their lives leading to worse outcomes across health, educational attainment and happiness later in life.?She also raised a number of related issues that align with Maternity Action’s calls for change including:

• The need for Government to take action to improve the take up of Healthy Start vouchers (currently received by only 65% of those eligible).
• The complicated and unworkable parental leave system which leave fathers unable to take this time off because they simply cannot afford to, leaving mothers to cope alone and fathers to miss out on the important early months of bonding with their new baby.
• Mothers being forced to return to work far earlier than they wanted because they could not afford to remain on maternity leave.
• A childcare system that is unaffordable for many mothers impacting their earnings potential and long term career prospects.

As Ms McKinnell summed up:

“The gender inequality that we should have left in the distant past is creeping back into our lives and it feels as though the Government are asleep at the wheel.”

Justin Madders MP, Shadow Minster for Employment Rights, quoted extensively from Maternity Action’s survey findings to demonstrate the effects that low rates of maternity pay are having on mothers and their families as they are forced to reduce their spending on food, heating and other essentials.?You can read?the full debate here?or watch the?filmed version.

And the?Government’s response?to the clear evidence of the need for significant increases to the current rates of statutory maternity and other forms of parental pay??It was to quote a response previously given on 13 June 2022:

“The Government has no plans to increase Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP). The standard rate of SMP is reviewed annually and is generally increased in line with CPI.”

This simply is not good enough.?And while the Government refuses to do anything to address the dire financial situation that so many women on maternity leave find themselves in, Maternity Action will continue to campaign, along with our supporters, to raise the rates of maternity and other parental pay to at least parity with the legal minimum wage of ￡365 per week.?Even if this takes some time to achieve, the Government urgently needs to take the first steps now along that road.