Maternity pay bullsh*t for teachers

You sound very entitled.

You want a baby, so have one. It's a choice, not a right! If you can't afford one then that's not the schools problem or a workplace or even the government.

Do you think it's fair on the school to pay for someone who isn't working for a year? Lucky for you to live in the UK where you have so many perks. Why not move to another country...see how you get on with their maternity pay and leave.

Lots (I think most) academies follow the same arrangements for pay and conditions as maintained schools. The OP's doesn't.

My understanding is that if she had been there when her school became an Academy, her pay and conditions would have been protected by TUPE. Either she wasn't employed there then, in which case she accepted the pay and conditions when she accepted the job, or she explicitly agreed to give up her TUPEd rights. Teachers in some schools were happy to do that because the Academy offered enhanced pay or other incentives.

As an example, teachers in Harris Academies are paid more than those in maintained schools. They also receive loyalty bonuses and private healthcare. I have no idea what their maternity offer is because I can't see anything on their website. That perhaps suggests that they don't offer anything above the statutory minimum (but I have no idea).

For some teachers those additional benefits will be worth it. For others they won't. But the pay and conditions offered come as a package. Staff can't pick and choose between the two systems by taking eg the higher pay offered by the Academy and the higher maternity pay offered by maintained schools.

I have idea whether the OP is in that position, but I'd be surprised if academies which have departed from the national pay and conditions arrangements are not offering better conditions in at least some respects. If they paid less and had worse working conditions they would find it even more difficult to attract staff!

The op is claiming that she is being discriminated against because she doesn’t like how much maternity pay she personally gets (which is based on the statutory requirement). People have pointed out that isn’t discrimination and it isn’t. It’s one thing to say that maternity pay for all should be higher- op is just saying that she thinks she personally should get more because some other teachers do. That’s not sex discrimination.

That’s not what sex discrimination is. It’s a direct comparison

The fact is you aren't being discriminated against full stop.

You could have negotiated a better package, got a job with better package.

Campaign for better maternity pay but you aren't being discriminated against you are being treated the same as other teachers at your school.

Some women are paid more than others - does that make them more important?

I said you sound like them, not that you literally are them.

I was in an academy and it was better than that.

But you aren't being discriminated against is a bloke in the school getting a better maternity package no.

You really don't understand what discrimination is and if so it's shocking you are a teacher.

E.g. this. Ever crossed your mind that policies can discriminate?

So many women advocating for policies that discriminate against women. A race to the bottom going on here.

OP, you sound like the women I work with. Generous maternity packages and family-friendly flexible working policies but nothing is ever enough. They're always shouting that they're being discriminated against but can never explain why.

Drives those of us who don't/can't have kids and keep getting refused flexibility absolutely bananas, I can tell you.

This would be, IMHO, a misdirection of energies. The falling birth rate isn’t due to poor maternity and paternity pay - the birth rate was much higher in the past when the levels of pay were no more generous (and often much lower). It is a symptom of a wider cost of living crisis, specifically the cost of housing. Until the affordable housing crisis is resolved there will be no increase to the birth rate, and more generous statutory pay would be only a very expensive sticking-plaster.

@Soontobe60 but won’t we just be building up a bigger problem if we increase the population now, will have even more elderly people in the future and even fewer resources

The falling birth rate is a huge concern to everyone and is a crisis-in-waiting.
The aging population is increasing but the birth rate is falling. From a basic financial POV, there will be fewer tax payers funding an increasing pension budget within a few years. From a more practical POV, there will be fewer employees available to support an aging population.
We should be actively encouraging women to have children by making it financially viable. Every parent should receive 6 month’s government funded maternity pay that can be split between both parents as they wish, childcare should be much more heavily subsidised - get rid of child benefit and increase the value of childcare vouchers, all schools should provide low cost wrap around and holiday care on their premises staffed by outside providers. We need to get those babies being born!

It's the long ball game though, it may seem easier now to give up work but then you are stuck. It's hard to get back into work after 5 year gap, everyone says they will study but let's be real- everyone is tired.

Then housing is another thing to think about, who actually takes HB as tenants? I'm not sure if it's changed but I remember no-one taking them. You aren't allowed much credit etc.

So, yeah it's a difficult decision when you take everything into account .

I’m a teacher, theres always a couple of members of staff on mat leave in my school!
One particular TA has just had her 2nd DC. She has not returned to work but has chosen to resign and be a SAHM. She is single. The amount of benefits she receives really surprised me - She is far better off on these benefits than she was when she was employed. There’s something drastically wrong with a society whereby it pays more to stay at home than to go out to work if youre on not much more than minimum wage.

Jesus, I hope you are more mature in your workplace.

Most people save before having children, ask partner to up their hours, make cut backs etc.

Yes, it's not great but a child is a luxury especially in a world, where we want careers and not be a housewife.

It's not just women, you could ask your partner to be at home instead, you could do more hours/ take up tuition for extra cash etc. It's not just a woman problem unless you are a single parent that has been left holding the baby.

I'm worried that despite multiple people telling OP it isn't discrimination she still keeps saying it is. And OP is a teacher.