The government has been urged to double statutory maternity pay because women are cutting short their maternity leave and skipping meals because they cannot afford to live on the current rate.
A survey by Maternity Action for the Unison union found that a quarter of women have gone without eating while receiving only the statutory maternity rate.
Women are currently entitled to six weeks of statutory maternity pay at 90% of their full pay after giving birth. This then drops to £172.48 a week for 33 weeks or to 90% of their average weekly earnings – whichever is lower.
From 7 April 2024, statutory maternity pay, adoption pay, shared parental pay and parental bereavement pay are set to increase to £184.03 per week.
Unison and Maternity Action said statutory maternity pay should be increased to at least £364.70 per week, equivalent to the current national minimum wage of £10.42 an hour.
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Maternity Action estimates that only around 10% of women benefit from enhanced occupational maternity pay from their employer.
Black and Asian women in particular are overrepresented in low-paid jobs with insecure contracts without access to statutory benefits like maternity leave and pay, it claims.
Unison general secretary Christina McAnea said: “Everyone is feeling the impact of escalating living costs. But it’s hitting new mums particularly hard.
“No mother should have to go without food or skip meals. But the failure of maternity pay to keep up with increasing living costs is driving many pregnant workers and new mothers into severe financial hardship.
“The government is effectively forcing many women to choose between work and family. They must raise maternity leave pay to ensure no one is penalised for having a baby.”
Maternity Action director Ros Bragg said: “Mothers shouldn’t be forced to cut short their maternity leave because they can’t make ends meet. This is an important time for women to recover from the birth and bond with their baby.
“Women should be reducing their stress levels during pregnancy and their child’s first year, not worrying about how to pay for essentials. Stress during pregnancy puts women at increased risk of post-natal depression and other mental health conditions.
“The government should be supporting pregnant women and new mothers to live healthy lives, not leaving them struggling to keep their house warm and eat a balanced diet.”
The survey of 1,394 mothers in the UK who had taken maternity leave found that 71% worried about money “a lot” during their pregnancy or maternity leave, and 58% returned to work before they were ready because of financial pressures.
Many had reduced the hours that their heating was on, and some had to rely on food parcels from friends and family, or survive on toast or children’s leftovers.
Half had bought less healthy food to save money and 35% were skipping meals or having smaller portions.
One in 20 (5%) said they had occasionally not eaten all day to reduce spending on food as they were so concerned about rising living costs. One woman was prescribed medication after becoming anaemic through skipping meals.
The survey was carried out in December 2022 and January 2023, but the results have been published ahead of Unison’s annual women’s conference next week.
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