Survey reveals impact on families of low maternity pay

The cost of living crisis is affecting women and babies living on low levels of maternity pay and benefits, and affecting their health and wellbeing, warns national charity, Maternity Action, in its new report, A Perfect Storm, launched today. A survey of 1,394 mothers who had taken maternity leave at some point between January 2021 and December 2022 reported that, while on leave:     half (49%) were buying less healthy food and one quarter had gone without food to feed their children     71% worried ‘a lot’ about money during pregnancy or maternity leave, an increase from 64% in an equivalent 2022 survey     60% of respondents had relied on a credit card or borrowed money to make ends meet, up from 51% in 2022     58% also returned to work before they were fully recovered from the birth due to financial pressures The report outlines how criteria for maternity pay unfairly excludes many women in insecure work, women whose pregnancies were unplanned or unexpected or who have had periods of illness. It also states that many women are going back to work sooner than they’d want due to maternity pay being too low. One mother taking part in the research said: “I had to go back to work when my baby was only three months old. I am still at work now because we couldn’t afford to live, we had to take a £5,000 loan to keep us afloat for those three months because maternity pay wasn’t enough. “In the end, despite the fact that I couldn’t afford it, I went o...
Source: UNISON meat hygiene - Category: Food Science Authors: Tags: Article News cost of living low-paid women pregnancy pregnancy and maternity rights Source Type: news