AIBU to be concerned maternity package has been cut to pay for shared parental leave?

[SharedParentalLeaveImpacts]

My company has a fairly generous enhanced maternity package. Not as good as the 6 months full pay some civil service friends get, but still above the statutory.

Next year, men will be entitled to the same package if taking Shared Parental Leave. The terms of the policy will change so that beneficiaries would effectively receive about 25% less overall. There is also a cap on the number of times you can take it. I’m unwilling to give any more details as it could be outing (I have name changed).

This won’t affect me personally but I could see this coming when the government legislated for SPL. I know companies don’t have to match maternity packages for men. But our company did a review of competitors and this is what others offer. So they have followed suit.

I can understand why they are doing this as the policy needs to be funded (we employ a lot of men and it could cost a lot).

AIBU to be concerned that women are going to lose out? Not me personally but other younger women? Or should they be grateful to receive above the minimum? Did the government not consider these potential impacts when designing their policy? Is this happening in other companies?

Please note I’m not willing to say what the industry is or give any more details about the specific policy. So will ignore these questions.

I fully accept that we are in a privileged position as I have an enhanced mat package at my work, and my DH's workplace (civil service) has an enhanced SPL package. For us, that means that not only do we both want him to share SPL to develop a bond with the baby, but actually financially it makes much more sense for us if he does at least 3 months of a 12 month leave. I will be on SMP for 3 months and unpaid for 3 months in the last 6 mos of leave, while he gets full pay for 24 weeks under his enhanced SPL. I strongly believe all businesses should offer the same enhancements for SPL as they do for mat leave, as it allows parents flexibility to make their own choices about care and returning to work, and eventually will lead to more equality in the workplace. We'll probably save so that I can take 9 mos leave, then he'll take over.

If a woman can only continue bf beyond 6 months if she doesn’t work, then she’d need to be able to afford to take extended ML anyway! No one is paid full salary for a year! So the issue is not actually about SPL,
It’s about being in the privileged position of being able to take a year, not whether other couples are choosing to split their leave (and quite possibly continuing to bf too, since thousands of women don’t stop just because they’re working)