Charity Welcomes Maternity Leave Pledge
Published: September 28, 2004
A charity which campaigns to end inequality amongst pregnant women and new parents has today welcomed a pledge by the Chancellor Gordon Brown to introduce 12 months of maternity leave.
Speaking at the Labour Party Conference in Brighton today Mr Brown outlined his goals for the future and amongst his ambitious plans was a pledge to ensure new parents are paid for a year around the birth of a child.
In response to his speech the Maternity Alliance, the national charity for pregnant women, new parents and babies under one, welcomed the news and described it as a “huge boost”.
Liz Kendall, director of the Maternity Alliance said: “Introducing paid parental leave will be a huge boost to working families.
“Too many parents, particularly mothers, currently feel forced to return to work before they’re ready because they can’t afford to take unpaid leave.
“A year’s paid leave will give them more choice about how to balance work and family responsibilities when their children are very young. This will be good for parents, good for babies and good for society as a whole.
“Allowing dads to share a portion of this leave, and increasing paternity pay, will also support fathers who want to play a bigger role in bringing up their children.”
Women are currently entitled to six weeks maternity pay at 90% of their earnings followed by 20 weeks statutory maternity pay at £102.80 a week. Women are also entitled to 26 weeks Additional Maternity Leave but this is unpaid.
Men are currently entitled to two weeks paternity pay at £102.80 a week.
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