Maternity pay has gone too far

[EasterIssland]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c781m9v4255o

apologies if there is another thread about it.
havent seen one.

im lucky enough to have a good salary that would allow me saving beforehand . Statutory maternity pay would mean around 20-30% of my salary. Is this too far? It’s one of the many reasons why we decided to only have one. I felt really vulnerable when I was on maternity leave and didn’t feel I kept having spare cash every month. I do understand what she means tho , the sooner we’re back the less we get from the government and more taxes we pay. Coming from a woman hurts even more not being recognised the sacrifices we do whilst we are on maternity leave

What bothers me most about this is the innate cognitive refusal to see babies not as people.

We are all born. Even if you are tiny and don't have a vote, the UK government is responsible for you just like any other citizen.

Calling a human being a "lifestyle choice" is ridiculous.

Apologies, I thought you were one of those arguing that six months maternity was sufficient. I may have misunderstood.

The best thing Labour can do at this point is increase statutory maternity pay.

It’s currently 44% of national minimum wage.. Why? It needs to be increased to be in line with minimum wage to start with as it just proves you can’t live properly off the current amount.

We only had one despite earning average UK salaries as cannot afford the cost of childcare for 2 plus the rising cost of paying a mortgage, council tax and even food shopping.
I look around me, my working sil only has one, lots of smaller families barely making replacement rate.
Meanwhile my mum had 3, her mum had 3, fil side had 7 😱ok maybe that is extreme.
Meanwhile uncontrolled immigration and those who aren't working are having loads of kids.. sahm mums (lucky).
So working couples are being penilised and aren't having that many kids anymore.. Just the wealthy and those who don't work..there's no incentive for those on a middling salary to have children.
Can't wait to see what this country will be looking like in 20 plus years.

See I had 3 but spaced them out so wasn't paying 2 lots of full time childcare in one go.

I was only asking how it helps which I presume is different than advocating

Those not working might be having lots of kids (where?) but they are affected by benefit caps and two child limits.

I think this comment is quite upsetting bullshit. I think 9 months is a good length of time - 6 month olds are still babies and it is really hard to get affordable care at the ratios they need and really challenging to let them go. 9 month olds are starting to move more and should be eating so breastfeeding mums can feel more comfortable leaving them and they should finally be getting some sleep which you can’t guarantee at 6 months. It’s a huge difference. I went back at 10 months with both of my first 2.

I guess you couldn't find it then @LongtailedTitmouse. Meanwhile, on the video that is available on Badenoch's own twitter account, she says that maternity pay is excessive.
She was also 'misrepresented' on The Telegraph website this morning too, poor thing.

Miriam Cates on Radio 5 this morning kindly explained that Badenoch didn't mean what she seemed to have said. Apparently we should accept with grace that people often say things they didn't mean in live interviews. So that's OK then. 🙄

I often come out with really controversial small state conservative views when asked a live question. We must have the same issue!

🤣

@MakeMeATea

You say you live in a country with uncontrolled immigration?

I don't.

Which country do you live in?

I do however live in a country whose government regularly lies to its citizens for populist reasons about allowing large numbers of immigrants for necessary economic reasons; then whips up hatred about a few thousand refugees to divert the population from the need for legal immigration. But it is pretty well, if not absolutely, controlled.

Her opinions are reminiscent of Monty Python… What has regulation ever done for us? 🤣

I don’t even get this argument.

I have a small business. The government pays 110% of the SMP cost so it’s not a cost.

There is an issue of cover yes. But that doesn’t cause a company to go under.

100% correct. - your post that is, not the comments made by Toxic Kemikal Badenough!

My son and his wife live in Finland - they are entitled to 16 months of state paid maternity or paternity ( not at the same time) which is based on their usual income - so his wife had 12 month off and he’s now off for four months so she can go back to work - once their baby starts nursery it is a max of 200 euros a month for full time - they pay less as they have an older one as well - this is means tested - the country values families highly and this is paid for by taxation - my son moaned on first moving there about the higher tax rates paid but he moans no longer — our system is very poor - we need an increased birth rate or our older population will be completely screwed in 10 years time but government is too short sighted to see it.

😆

So he could drop days and work part time....he doesn't have to work full time in that role. He could do part time pilot and part time elsewhere....

If he didn't help his wife in crisis or wasn't there for you...not sure he was.

She's just trying to appeal to the hard right. Of all the nonsense, this is the worst. We as a society can afford to have mum's and dad's provide care to their own children for a year after birth, while they are at their most vulnerable. Childcare is more expensive and difficult at that age anyway.

Badenochs opinions on many things are VILE

I thought why that might matter. I exclusively breastfed and my DS and DD were neither of them weaned at six months. Typical career woman's attitude to motherhood, with Conservative small-statism with knobs on as the icing.

Emphasis on the knobs. 🤣 Plenty of them in the Tory party.

Other European countries have much better maternity (and paternity) leave. Many have more support to allow women to stay at home with small children as well. Badenoch is out of order - small-statism and less regulation means fewer workers' rights, less health and safety and no statutory safeguards for minimum wages. Badenoch isn't going to experience any of the downsides of deregulation but the rest of us will. She was stupid to reveal her views, but now we know!