Petition Demands Higher Maternity Pay; Government Defends Current Support Levels

Joeli Brearley created a petition demanding improved financial support for new mothers. The petition calls for mothers to receive 90 per cent of their salary for the first 12 weeks of maternity leave, followed by payments equivalent to the National Minimum Wage. The Department for Work and Pensions responded, stating that maternity pay is intended to provide a measure of financial support while a mother cares for her child, not to replace full earnings.

Campaigners argue that low Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) is among the least generous in Europe and that the gap between maternity payments and the National Living Wage is widening. They claim that low pay forces mothers to return to work earlier for financial reasons, citing a rise in early returns from 42 per cent in 2022 to 58 per cent in 2023.