On the 27th August the world’s first parent strike is happening and parents everywhere are downing tools in protest of the challenges that face parents in the UK today.
Parents have had enough of getting by with the skin of their teeth to be able to have a family and to keep working. Many can’t even afford to have children today because the systems in the UK aren’t set up to help parents to be parents, like they are in other countries.
In the UK, parental leave is lacking considerably. We have the third worst ranking maternity pay, and the least generous paternity leave compared to Europe, and yet the government wants to know why birth rates are on the floor? Dads are given paternity leave the length of an all inclusive holiday to Turkey and we’re supposed to keep calm and carry on.
Mums are continuing to bear the brunt of having kids, with 74,000 mums pushed out of work in 2023 for having kids. Pregnant Then Screwed research shared that 73% of mothers report pregnancy or maternity discrimination at work and one in three mothers who faced discrimination quit their job. Flexible working continues to be rolled out as a perk, something that mums need to go cap in hand to ask for - 50% of mums to leave work do so because their flexible working requests are turned down. On the flip side, 6 in 10 mums who are granted flexible working say that their workload stays exactly the same.
Koru Kids has campaigned endlessly about challenges parents face trying to get childcare to work around inflexible jobs, something their nanny lifeline exists to solve. So parents are repeatedly stuck between a rock and a hard place.
All things considered, is it any wonder why it’s becoming something of a dice roll to take on the risk of growing a family today?
Being a parent is the single most rewarding thing that many people will attest to doing, but in a world that expects you to parent like you don’t work, and work like you don’t have kids - parents will continue to fall down. We need to look at parental leave and flexible working as essential infrastructure for parents to be able to succeed.
Having kids is a choice - something people remind parents endlessly when they dare to comment on something not being quite right - but let's be clear, it’s not a hobby, it’s not akin to choosing whether to take up golf, and it’s not a nice to have either. We need families to have babies to keep society and the economy going, and yet we’re at a 50 year low. This isn’t because the collective libido in the UK has dropped, but because it's becoming harder and harder to afford the costs, mentally and financially with lacklustre government support.
This is why parents are coming together across the UK in 13 locations, on the 27th of August to down tools in the first ever Parent Strike. Parents and families are rallying together to say enough is enough and to push for increased parental leave and stronger flexible working rights.
Are you with us?