To ask who signed the extension of mat leave and why?

[Tjsmumma]

Self explanatory really..

If you signed it why? Why do you feel you and entitled to more time paid? Do you think being in lockdown is more of a right to more time of PAID than people who have babies who are delivered early or need NICU stays?

I am myself on maternity with a 19 week old and i still do not think its fair to say 'i need more time off paid because i wasnt able to go to a mother and baby group' theres plenty of time to go after.

I can sort of understand if you are due to go back and cant find child care but surely you can be furloughed or claim SSP/Benefits during this time like the rest of the country?

And what about all the families that can’t afford baby groups? Have their children suffered? Course not.

Personally for me, I am due back next month. Not only does DS 6 months have no nursery to go too, I can’t wean him off the breast, he is incredibly anxious when I leave the room because it’s me and him, in this house, 24/7 barring a 10 minute shower break. He wouldn’t be ready to go, I don’t feel comfortable with him going and he actually has no where to go at the moment. I can’t be furloughed as I can’t just get back to work when asked on the short notice as like i said, no nursery. I’m taking the extended mat which is 3 months unpaid time off but we will suffer because of this. Plus my son is now amazed and scared at any people passing and the wind.. lol!

Maternity leave in the UK is pretty rubbish in terms of what we get paid for it, but I didn't and won't be signing the petition.

I've had to take maternity leave earlier than planned because wfh was awkward. Not impossible, however, so my choice to take leave was entirely mine, but I couldn't bear doing it for any longer.

bumptobean it's quite normal for babies to scream bloody murder when their mum leaves the room, and I wouldn't blame it on the last 6 weeks. I hope you are getting yourself and your DS out for some fresh air. That will give him plenty of exposure to sounds and sights. I do appreciate lack of settling in at nursery isn't ideal and there should be a provision made to facilitate this for parents returning to work. I don't think 3 months paid leave is the answer though.

That's absolutely shocking. If you can't access childcare, I understand but extra paid leave to bond?! Fuck me.

Again, the childcare problem isn't unique to parents who have had a baby recently.

The vast majority of parents, have childcare problems. They will also struggle if furloughed and called back short notice.

So again, why is the petition for an extension of mat leave? Rather than more leave for all parents?

I signed as I would like to be able to transition my baby to care with her grandparents (who she won’t see until the end of lockdown) and my toddler to nursery (she was previously looked after by grandparents, but they can’t manage both) and I’m concerned that we won’t have the time to do that. It’s slightly complicated for us by the fact that my father-in-law lives with us and has a shielding letter as he is particularly vulnerable to the virus and I believe he’s safety will be a concern for quite some time.

I’m not concerned about it being paid necessarily (though we obviously haven’t planned for the extra unpaid time), just that work wouldn’t contest it - we both find it difficult to take leave as our work places are frequently busy.

Chasing and parents of older children?

The childcare issue is very difficult. Nursery's aren't open and of you are a returning key worker then it's nigh on impossible to get childcare therefore you can't return to work.

I'm a teacher and getting very stressed about return to work childcare. Thought I had it sorted but no idea now. I can't take holiday or unpaid leave.

I disagree with this petition however. It's ridiculous. I only had 6 months off because that's all I can afford.

Maternity leave in the UK is pretty rubbish in terms of what we get paid for

Tell that to women in the US with their 6 weeks!!

You can bond with your baby at home, i was planning 6 months of maternity leave, i have started back to work in the last couple of weeks my dd2 is 3 months ( it took it a few weeks to dind a nursery for both my children) . I'm needed at work, though i might sign a petition to allow me to take the other 3 months when this is over, i think it's unrealistic to expect an extended mat leave because of lock down. I didn't leave the house for 7 weeks after dd1 was born coz i was in too much pain, but i still only took 6 months.

My daughter gave birth 4 weeks after qualifying as a nurse . She didn't get a penny of maternity pay because she "was a student and hadn't been working " . The fact that she had been spending 30 hrs a week on the wards heavily pregnant caring for the sick . They were so skint that she had to start her new job when baby was only 13 weeks old . I think these people wanting xtra leave are cheeky

If you need to ‘transition’ your child, which is fair enough, take holiday or unpaid leave. My child (non uk) started school during lock down so they missed all the settling in days and have never set foot in the place. They have also become super attached to me during the lockdown period. I figured that we just need to adjust our work schedules to cope with the transition once it happens, it didn’t occur to me to petition for some kind of governmentally approved special leave.

Why is it so hard it understand that nobody has family help right now and all children have got very used to being at home all the time? My other child who is at nursery will
Inevitably be devastated when they have to go back having spent months at home with just me.

I’ve read the first few pages of this thread and opinion seems quite unanimous but maybe because I’ve never worked for anyone else I don’t really understand this issue or your responses. My instinct is that anyone that is being forced to stay at home with their baby is not on the maternity leave that they/we have all contributed to paying for - they’re just being forced to stay at home with their baby.
What’s the difference between still wanting to have the maternity leave time you’ve planned and any holiday time that you’ve planned? Are all of you that are employed and haven’t been able to do your job in the last few weeks and are against people having extra maternity leave going to give up your holidays because you’ve been already been away from work for the equivalent time to your holidays?

I can see the point if someone was unable to arrange childcare because of lockdown, but that's it. Certainly not because they couldn't go to baby yoga classes.

@Twofingers I don't understand your question.

If you sre in maternity leave, you are employed but not available for work.

If you are furloughed, you are available for work. And could find yourself back at work next week.

Maternity leave is a period after you hive birth, to recover from the birth and to provide care (and bond) with your baby. All that still applies, whether in lockdown or not. During this period you are not available for work, except for prearranged kit days. People on maternity leave can not be recalled to work with a couple of days notice.

Nowhere is maternity leave based on whether you can leave the house, attend baby groups, visit people.

Furlughed people are not on annual leave. For a start, annual leave is paid at full rate.

I can see the point if someone was unable to arrange childcare because of lockdown, but that's it. Certainly not because they couldn't go to baby yoga classes

Childcare is going to be very difficult for any parent. I guess I can't get my head round why these new mothers only think it applies to them.

I also wonder how many of them would actually return to work afterwards?

Why is it so hard it understand that nobody has family help right now and all children have got very used to being at home all the time?

This doesn’t make sense to me. Your child would have been used to being with you all the time anyway during Mat leave and then going to nursery - this is just one of the pitfalls of being a working mother. Or even a SAHM as you are just delaying the point where your child goes to school/away from you.

Even if you get a few extra months, your child willSTILL be devastated at leaving. As you say yourself, take a few unpaid days to help settle them in.

I really cannot believe people who don’t understand the fucking point of mat leave is to be with their baby, not to have fun coffee mornings and have to leave the house.

Thanks Shits, I think it’s up to the individual how they want to use their maternity leave and the maternity leave clock should start when restrictions are lifted. I would have thought they should be furloughed/treated the same as their colleagues during the restrictions.
I don’t understand why families should lose out on the statutory opportunity for cultural, social, familial, health (or whatever their individual maternity leave plans are) because of the restrictions.

@PlatoAteMySnozcumber Not every job allows unpaid leave due to practicalities. Eg my school only allows it for child illness. Asking for it to settle at nursery would be laughed at. However depending on when schools go back, I may not be able to get my child settled at nursery in time.

@twofingers every body is losing their spare time. It up to each individual, within reason, how they use their spare time. Maternity leave, days off, annual leave, unpaid leave. That doesnt apply to anyone at the moment. Parents of older kids, parents of young kids, people who are parents. We are all restricted in what out free time is.

Non of what you have said applies strictly to new parents.

There is no statutory opportunity for culture etc.

Everybody is losing out because of restrictions. Kids shouldn't be missing out on formal education and being educated by parents who also have to work. But its happening.

Its shit. It is. But its impacting everyone. There isn't a way to compensate for that.

Besides which, if this goes for as long as people think, and extra 3 months, will leave parents who have had their kids recently, still going back during the pandemic.

Childcare wi still be difficult.

I didn't sign it but I can see how it would help up. My mum and sister wanted to look after DS when I return to work so his nursery place starts in October when my sister goes back to uni. I'm due back to work in July and at the moment with current restrictions there's nobody to look after DS. We are key workers so I don't know anybody who's been furloughed.

Shits: for the employed there is a statutory opportunity for maternity leave. There are no rules surrounding what value families choose to take out of this leave. It can be of cultural value if that is how families choose to use it, it depends what is best for them and their culture and circumstances.
We are not all the same but access to the benefits of statutory rights should be the same.

Also all my treatment for PND has been paused and it would be better to receive this before I'm also juggling work.

@Twofingers you have statutory right to maternity leave. You do not have statutory right to culture etc. Which is what i said.

The right to do a particular activities on your maternity leave (unless its recover or look after your baby) doesn't exist.

At the moment everyones right to do as they please on leave is restricted.

Are you suggesting that everyone who can visit family, do what they feel they should be able to do, because they planned it needs compensating by the government?

No one is getting to do what they want. Someone on maternity has no more rights to socialise than someone on a day off or annual leave. That just doesn't exist.

At the moment no one has