Government must double  maternity pay so mothers can afford to eat and heat their homes, say UNISON and Maternity Action

The government must increase statutory maternity pay to £364.70 a week so new mothers are not forced back to work too early, say UNISON and Maternity Action today (Friday). Both organisations are concerned some women are cutting short their maternity leave, skipping meals and making other drastic choices because they cannot afford to live on the current statutory weekly amount of £172.48*. UNISON and Maternity Action are urging ministers to more than double the payment at the very least so women receive the equivalent of the national minimum wage of £10.42 an hour. A recent survey by Maternity Action on behalf of UNISON shows a quarter of women on maternity leave say they have gone without eating – sometimes all day – so they can afford to feed their families. Eating their children’s leftovers, brushing their own teeth to suppress hunger pangs, surviving on toast some days, and relying on friends and family for food parcels are among the desperate measures to which new mothers are resorting, according to the survey. The findings, released to coincide with UNISON’s annual women’s conference in Brighton this week, also show financial pressures are forcing new mothers to return to work sooner than they intended. The survey**, based on the responses of 1,400 mothers in the UK who had taken maternity leave, shows nearly half (49%) of the women said they were buying less-healthy food to save money. More than a third (35%) were skipping m...
Source: UNISON Health care news - Category: UK Health Authors: Tags: News Press release maternity pay Source Type: news