Hi Mumsnetters.
I am running a campaign advocating for the rights of self-employed parents. The Campaign for Parental Pay Equality is looking to change current legislation to make self-employed parents eligible for Shared Parental Pay (ShPP) . As part of the campaign I am gathering survey data to submit as evidence to the Taylor Review on Modern Employment Practices and would be really grateful if you could spend 5 minutes answering the questions. You need to be self-employed or with a self-employed partner. The Review closes on 17th May, so the next week is crucial in gathering responses.
www.parentalpayequality.org.uk/survey/
Here is some more info on the issues involved:
Under current regulations, employees are eligible to claim 39 weeks of statutory Shared Parental Pay (ShPP) which they can share between them in up to 3 separate blocks (or more if employers agree). Self employed people are not eligible for this benefit, and self-employed men can claim no parental pay whatsoever for looking after their child. Self-employed women are entitled to Maternity Allowance (MA) which, although paid at the same rate as ShPP, cannot be shared with a partner or split into blocks. This effectively forces the mother into being the main caregiver, and financially penalises families that want to share childcare. This can be detrimental to women's businesses, and unfairly prevents self-employed fathers from spending time with their children. Having access to the flexibility of ShPP is especially important for the self-employed as they do not have any of the same legal protections while on maternity leave (pay rises, job security) that employees do.
Thanks for your time.
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