Parliament debate to extend maternity leave

[ejmay90]

Not sure if this has been posted already but please see this debate to extend maternity leave for 3 months.
Please sign if you agree :)

petition.parliament.uk/petitions/306691

@LalalalalaLlama thank you for the reassurance :) and I am thinking way ahead

I predict that with the double whammy of covid and Brexit, maternity leave is going to be curtailed rather than extended ...

This. I find the long maternity leaves here mean more discrimination for women of child-bearing age due to some women who take the piss and effectively skive off work 3 years in a row for someone else to pay for their babymoons.

@lala241280 but I didn't say we should just because of covid if you read my post.

Not signed. Don’t agree. Maternity leave isn’t about going to baby groups.

Yeah, this is a fucking joke which Parliament will debate for approximately 3 seconds, kill, and move on. The entitlement and detachment from reality it demonstrates is breathtaking.

When it comes to lack of childcare settings, well, welcome to the club. Everyone except keyworkers are managing without childcare settings right now and still have to work. If new mothers returning to work are key workers, they can get a new place, else there is the same thing everyone else is doing: juggle with partner, work around child, or take unpaid leave.

*get a nursery place

Not signing as I don't agree with it

They won't be going to any baby groups or enjoying any fun time when the country drops into a recession and all community centres are shut

Get a grip and stop being so selfish

Come on mumsnet, how many threads are we going to get on this ridiculous petition? This must be the 5th or 6th that I've seen in the last few days. It's getting tedious now.

I can understand the childcare issue

I was saying the other day to dh, that actually having a baby now would be quite nice (except the obvious world turmoil, pandemic, deaths and pending recession!). no unexpected , uninvited visitors. PJ days, no pressure to be anywhere or do anything. No pressure to have the house perfect and do all the house things, sleep when baby sleeps. Just you (maybe the dad if he’s furloughed or working from home) and the baby.

Not signing as I don't agree with it

I don't really get it. Maternity leave is for breast feeding and bonding. Not going to social groups.

Yes it sucks that you're stuck at home, but we all are. My ds is disabled and missing out on essential therapy. He doesn't get 3 months of his life back.

Even if you only took nine months you still had/have 7 months of normal maternity leave.

Do mothers of premature babies even get an extention yet, I know it has been rightly asked for.

No it's fucking ridiculous

I haven’t signed, there are still activities you can do at home to help a child’s development if that’s what the issue is

I wouldn't sign it as i don't agree with it.
When I had my elder children in the 70's there was very little maternity leave.
I had my last child in early 2000's and maternity was 16 weeks -- that was it, so think yourself lucky you have what you have now.

Most of my groups don't run in the holidays or are at least not all of it. Not signed petition, I think unreasonable. Everyone has all gone without and missed stuff not just new mums.

Out of quite literally everyone, everywhere I’d think mothers on maternity leave are about the least effected by being locked down

The new mums that will be signing this will be the mums that are not due back to work now but are due back when hopefully things are back to a new kind of normal ie August or September

I’m guessing they are not happy that mums who are due back now and have had their full nine months maternity leave may now go back to work and immediately made furloughed giving them paid time with their babies

baby groups which are vital for development

Somebody's been hoodwinked.

This petition is grossly "what about me?!" People seeing that the government are helping others affected by Covid and annoyed that they don't fall into any of the groups eligible for financial support.

I'm shielding, when this is over can I have 3 months to connect with myself please?

Rediculous petition which has absolutely zero chance of going through. You can extend your maternity leave longer than 12 months by using annual leave or applying for parental/unpaid leave. The tax payer is going to have enough to cover after the lock down is lifted without paying for you to go and have a cappuccino with other mothers at their expense and absolutely no benefit to your baby.

Also, I don't really understand the childcare point. You're either a key worker and therefore should be able to get something or you have to WFH with your baby. If you're returning to work in a few months, you can still sort out childcare. I arranged DS' nursery place for September this week - the world is still operating!

@Lala241280
I’m due back in Sept and I’m not bloody signing it!

@Megan2018

I didn’t mean all new mums just the ones so planned to sign it

Also what about women who want to breastfeed for longer than 9 months

That's their choice, but are you proposing those breastfeeding get a longer mat leave?

The world is insane. ESA for the disabled - not a life choice like having kids - has been chipped away at. PIP is nigh on impossible to secure. But let's give the yummy mummies some more paid time off. Fuck that.

I think there might be an economic argument to be made that extending the mat leave for non-essential workers (even unpaid) would be good for the economy if it meant keeping returning mother’s in a job which they otherwise would quit if they are due to go back during the crisis. It is not an argument about baby groups and swimming lessons.

There are going to be a lot of women (and men) leaving the workforce or reducing hours at work to reduce the stress of being asked to wfh and do childcare at the same time which is going to make the recession worse.