Mums have opened up about how the UK’s statutory maternity pay offering is not enough to meet the basic costs of living.
One mum told campaign group Maternity Action that she is often going without meals in the middle of the day so that her child can eat.
“Sometimes his meals consist of part of mine so that I don’t have to buy extra,” she added.
Another parent said statutory maternity pay is “not enough to meet the basic costs of living right now, let alone when you consider the extra costs that having a baby involves”.
She continued: “It’s impossible to live a good life.”
In the UK, statutory maternity pay is paid for up to 39 weeks and parents get 90% of their average weekly earnings (before tax) for the first six weeks, followed by £184.03 or 90% of your average weekly earnings (whichever is lower) for the next 33 weeks.
But for a lot of mums, this simply isn’t enough – especially given that everything is so expensive: from bills, to food, to formula and nappies.
The National Living Wage is set to increase to £12.21 an hour (£488 a week for those working eight-hour days, five days a week) in April 2025.
That means statutory maternity pay is now less than half the weekly National Living Wage.
Campaigners are calling upon Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves to urgently improve working women’s maternity pay to protect the health of new babies and fight child poverty.
A survey of 1,000 expectant and new mothers, by Maternity Action and Women’s Budget Group, revealed nearly two in five (38%) are eating smaller meals or skipping meals for cost reasons, while almost one quarter (24%) go without food in order to prioritise their children.
Nearly three in five (57%) have reduced the number of hours they keep the heating on due to the costs.
One parent said: “My toddler turned to me today and said ‘cold, chilly’ as I’d tried to keep the heating off for longer to save money.”
Perhaps unsurprisingly, three in five (59%) mums report that money worries impact their mental and physical health during pregnancy and maternity leave.
The findings come ahead of the April uprating which will increase statutory maternity pay (SMP) and maternity allowance by 1.7% – or £3.15 a week.
This is compared to current inflation of 3% and a forthcoming rise in the energy price cap of 6.4%.
In response to the findings, Dr Mary-Ann Stephenson, director of the Women’s Budget Group, said low rates of maternity pay are “pushing too many women and their children into poverty”.
Ali Fiddy, director of Maternity Action, added: “The cost of living crisis is not over for those who are pregnant or a new parent. Despite us knowing that low income is linked to poorer health in mothers and babies, mothers are being left to face increases in the cost of food and energy with inadequate support from maternity pay.
“These are women who have worked for their entitlements. The Chancellor urgently needs to start investing in maternity pay to close the gap with the National Living Wage, improve health outcomes for babies and ensure the government can fulfil its promise to tackle child poverty.”
HuffPost UK has contacted the Treasury about whether it would consider raising maternity pay further and will update this article when we hear back.
