Statutory Maternity and Paternity Pay Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department for Work and Pensions
Rachel Taylor
Main Page: Rachel Taylor (Labour - North Warwickshire and Bedworth)Department Debates - View all Rachel Taylor's debates with the Department for Work and Pensions
(1 day, 21 hours ago)
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Jacob Collier
My hon. Friend is a great champion for his constituents. Many of the issues that he notes will come out in the debate today. He is right to say that the Government have begun the first ever full review of parental leave and pay, which is a serious and welcome step.
Rachel Taylor (North Warwickshire and Bedworth) (Lab)
I thank my hon. Friend for leading this debate. Many of my constituents, including Helen, Lauren, Laura and Kayleigh, have written to me, and Helen asked me to raise this point in particular. When she went on maternity leave, she needed support from her partner. One in four women has a caesarean birth, and the physical recovery can often take six weeks, yet their partner must return to work after only two weeks’ paternity pay. That is why we need the wide-ranging review. It is heartbreaking for mothers and fathers, who are left in a difficult position, with mothers sometimes unable even to lift and carry their young child.
Jacob Collier
I know that that is the experience of many parents, and I am sure that the Government will look at it as part of the review that they are undertaking.
Under the current arrangements, a mother or primary adopter can receive maternity pay for up to 39 weeks. For the first six weeks, that pay is 90% of average weekly earnings. For the following 33 weeks, it falls to a flat statutory rate, or 90% of earnings—whichever is lower. Statutory paternity pay lasts for two weeks at the same flat rate.