Statutory Maternity and Paternity Pay Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department for Work and Pensions
Afzal Khan
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(1 day, 12 hours ago)
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Jacob Collier (Burton and Uttoxeter) (Lab)
I beg to move,
That this House has considered e-petition 715292 relating to statutory maternity and paternity pay.
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mrs Hobhouse, and a privilege to open this very busy debate on behalf of the Petitions Committee. Calling for statutory maternity and paternity pay to match the national living wage, the petition before us has attracted a great deal of public support from families who want Parliament to look again at how we help parents in the first months of their child’s life. I thank the creator of the petition, Grace Carter, and the thousands who signed it for prompting this important discussion.
The petition highlights a simple contrast that many parents experience. The national living wage is meant to ensure a basic standard of living for workers but, during maternity or paternity leave, state support falls well below that level. At present, statutory maternity pay after the first six weeks equates to just £4.99 an hour, compared with the national living wage of £12.21—55% lower than the income that the law defines as the minimum required to live on. It is hard to justify there being a minimum income for work but not for caring for newborns, and families really feel that gap in their pocket.
In response to the petition, the Government have stated that statutory payments are designed to provide “a measure of…security” rather than a full wage.
Afzal Khan (Manchester Rusholme) (Lab)
A shocking 37% of children and young people in Greater Manchester live in poverty, yet maternity pay remains far below basic living standards, as my hon. Friend just said. Does he agree that raising statutory maternity pay to a liveable wage would help to tackle the crisis of child poverty in the UK and give children a better start in life?
Jacob Collier
I agree, and those are some of the themes that I will come on to. We know, from parents such as Grace and from the stories that we will hear throughout today’s debate, that the current system leaves huge gaps and does not support families or children in the way it should.