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It’s not excessive, it’s time to deliver better maternity pay 

Published: 30 Sep 2024

By Jane van Zyl, CEO, Working Families

It’s such an incredible shame to have to read about a potential leader of the Conservative Party telling the media that she feels maternity pay is excessive and that people should exercise more personal responsibility. 

As a charity who has campaigned for working parents for over 40 years, we understand the landscape that new parents face. But you don’t have to be an expert in the field to know the impact of having one of the lowest rates of maternity pay in the OECD, just ask any new parent who has grappled with the sudden drop in income. Hearing that ‘the actual amount of maternity pay being neither here nor there’ is a kick in the teeth of the millions of parents who depend on maternity pay to bridge the gap of losing a salary, particularly with 74% of couple families having both parents in employment, or single parents losing their entire wage. On top of that, with the rising cost of living, parents are facing greater pressure than ever to maintain a steady income while recovering and caring for their newborn baby. Our research tells us that women are already sacrificing time with their new baby because they can’t afford it. On average, working mothers on a low income are only taking 23 weeks of maternity leave, a whole four months less than the UK average. 

In trying to make a point about business regulation, Ms Badenoch seems to be suggesting that people who can’t afford to survive six months to a year with significantly less income should not be having children. Unfortunately, this would account for a substantial portion of the population. She also seems to be confused about how statutory maternity pay works. When she says ‘statutory maternity pay is a function of tax, tax comes from people who are working. We’re taking from one group of people and giving to another’ she overlooks the fact that statutory maternity pay is paid to those women who are employed and therefore paying taxes. 

Not only is it offensive to suggest that having children should be the preserve of those in an extremely comfortable financial position, Badenoch’s outcry that ‘the answer cannot be let the government help people to have babies’ is inaccurate and shortsighted. Support to raise the next generation is far from a drain on the nation’s resources. We seem to forget it’s an investment in the people who will be taking care of us, making scientific breakthroughs, growing businesses, and keeping our country clean, safe and secure.  

Unfortunately, as callers to our helpline will attest, maternity discrimination is alive and kicking. Many callers find themselves at odds with their employers, but mostly because their employers are small business owners and don’t have the HR resources to help them manage and navigate what can be a challenging situation. With our help, 89% of callers act on our advice and keep their jobs – which is what they and their employers want. 

Whilst it may be music to the ears of her fanbase, Ms Badenoch’s words seem to be out of step with the thinking of many parents. Our polling of parents in marginal seats before the election found that 73% thought the next government should introduce reforms which improve parents’ leave and/or pay entitlements and two-thirds (65%) said that statutory maternity/paternity pay of £172.48 per week is not an adequate amount. The same polling found that 8 in 10 parents thought employers should do more to enhance parental leave and pay for new parents. We couldn’t agree more, and not just because it’s better for parents. Our work with progressive employers over decades shows us that when you support parents, it is a win-win for both families and businesses. 

Policy, in many ways, is catching up with society’s appetite for a better deal for new parents. I’m not sure anyone who was struggling to raise a family at the time ‘when there wasn’t any maternity pay and people were having more babies’ wants to go back there, particularly women who were considerably more disenfranchised. And the more people like Ms Badenoch fail to recognise this, the more out of step they appear to be with the needs of working parents in the UK.