To think maternity pay should be better funded?

[iguano88]

I saw this post earlier this week.

We are expecting our first baby. As it stands we won’t be able to comfortably afford a second: finances of maternity leave, childcare, mortgages rates, everything.

Surely people will start to choose to have no kids or just have one, because of the financial barriers. If everyone does this there are going to be huge consequences population wise down the line. If people are employed I am not sure why they are not entitled to better pay while they are on leave.

You could go on long term sick and get full pay for 6 months and half pay for 6 months, why should that be any better than maternity pay? I just don’t understand.

So people who dont have children should not get a pension or healthcare? Even though they have paid into the system for their working lives (payed more in fact, as they will have taken no maternity/paternity leave)

I'm mid 20s with wage stagnation high childcare costs and a lack of affordable housing kids aren't on my radar.

These issues are impacting fertility rates

Didn’t you notice that the new childcare subsidies for nursery is for kids 9 months to 2 years old? There is clearly demand for places and a shift to some mums taking 9 months maternity rather than 12 months for financial reasons.

Politicians think as far as the next election so I suspect that importing tax payers from abroad will end up being the solution.

Don’t you? Your circle must be quite small. Companies don’t have to offer an enhanced package.

i imagine there’s great many professions that don’t. Or it they do it’s like 8 weeks. I worked in a large IT company (5000 -10k employees in the uK and Europe) they offered the bare minimum everything. Whilst I understand it for local business, I don’t think large companies should be able to offer so little by way of any benefits

It’s not going to happen, they can’t afford it

I think it’s more than likely it will happen or something will happen childcare wise, there is a need for more people in work at the end of the day to support the aging population

Yes, I agree with you, SMP is shocking.

SSP is also shocking. 6 months full, 6 months half tends to be a civil service sick pay or similar. Many people get hardly any sick pay.

Both need sorting.

6 months full pay is a benefit from your employer. Many people only get SSP.

Statutory Maternity Pay, Sick Pay, Maternity Allowance are essentially government benefits to supply a safety net for those whose employers do pay enhanced maternity or sick pay.

It's your employer who you should be lobbying for better benefits or switch to a job where the benefits are better. Public sector generally is pretty generous on this.

@iguano88

They do, works out I’ll get about 75% of my wage for 6ish months and then SMP for another 9 weeks then nothing

That's not bad actually. Lots of women only get statutory.

I very much doubt it won’t go ahead - the 2 year old funding is now in place without much issue in our area.

No. Yours sounds generous! How long have you and and your husband been working? I’m sure you can use some of the money you’ve saved for your maternity leave.

MPs wage compares with any senior manager

No one is suggesting that seriously, they are saying it's the logical outcome of the idea that children are a lifestyle decision for parents, and a luxury, not a very necessary part of a functioning society.

If people cannot afford to have kids, they won't get any of those things, because there will be no one to pay for them. And also, no one to actually do the physical work of maintaining social infrastructure or anything else.

The reason people in societies like ours can without too much worry take the risk of NOT having children is because we have created a complex system where they can rely on their care and social funding from the state. In other places where that doesn't exist, everyone has to rely on their own children and family.

But you can't expect families to pay all the costs as if it's a wholly private thing, and then demand the benefits those children create as adults be distributed to all.

Lots of employers only give statutory sick pay and anything more is discretionary.

in respect of maternity pay, again it varies from employer to employer. The basic government subsidized maternity pay is small but many employers pay enhanced maternity pay. My previous employer paid six months full pay (and our sick policy was only 20 days a year full pay although I think they did pay longer on a discretionary basis).

People should live within their means and if they can’t afford something then the obvious solution is not to have it. Some people go back after 6 months to help with the financial side of it some even earlier so if someone can’t afford a whole maternity leave of 12 months or 9 months they then have to make the decision to go back early.

I am sorry but you completely internalised and rationalised the complete distegard of mum's and baby's wellbeing in favour of exploiting young families. I think early childcare, smp's and nursery's are outrageous in this country and I really don't understand how women don't go on the street and revolt asking for more smp and affordable or free state run childcare

Where do you think the money is going to come from?

I do think that people need to make 'some' provision for themselves.

I wish Mat pay had been around when I had my children but as it wasn't we had to manage. And my pregnancy was a bit of a surprise!

You have the opportunity to save for maternity leave though. Many babies are unplanned but for those who are planned, it should not be a surprise.

I would rather see funding aimed at education, health, social care, libraries and community resources rather than paying for parents to extend their mat leave.

Because - where is the money going to come from?

What will you cut to fund this?

I am sure that it is possible to figure something out as other countries in Europe somehow could finance it and they don't seem to be bankrupt.

Also, I don't think that other social services are well funded either.

On the note of saving up money. I don't know in what world you are living in, but saving up the amount of money you need to get through maternity is not realistic for most families.

Comparing weekly, statutory pay for those on maternity leave with annual salary for an MP is nuts. We're supposed to go away and calculate the weekly pay for a £91k salary!

Most people get additional pay from their employer anyway. You'd manage if you realised you were having twins...

Many people get enhanced maternity pay and some will choose their employment accordingly if they financially plan for the long term. However, reduced disposable income during maternity leave is one of the cheaper parts of being a child. Nurseries at £100+ per day or reducing hours to become part time usually has a bigger impact. Nobody has to take a year off and in many countries, it’s not even an option.

I've just finished 14 months maternity, 9 months SMP & 5 months unpaid. I saved £6000 beforehand to give myself an extra £500pm (for 12 months) & DH took care of all bills, mortgage etc whilst I was not earning.

I get 6 weeks at 90% and the rest at £184 a week! I've been teaching for over 10 years. WTAF.