Maternity leave 'should be curbed'

“At the rate the Government are going no women will be able to take maternity leave as there will be no jobs to take leave from.”

“It's not fair on mothers or businesses....but it is totally slanted in the mothers favour

It is an offence to ask at an interview if the woman intends at any time to have children...likewise to refuse to offer the job on this possibility is similarly an offence. So in effect the employers have to act partially blind and take the consequences.

It is..I would argue...virtually entirely the womans decision as to if and when she becomes pregnant....leaving the employer to effectively pick up the pieces and carry on.

Your latest posting merely illustrates a major problem in socciety today in as much as you were better off on benefits than you would be working. I know that's not your fault - it's the system - but do you not think that this is fundementally wrong ?

What would I do...no it's what i did. Went to work so as our daughter's mother could stay at home...not take holidays in addition to a whole lot of other things we went without for a good number of years.

What I did not get, expect, or want was for the state to pick up the bill...”

“Childcare can cost up to £50 per DAY, not week. Therefore if I went to work 5 days per week this would cost in the region of £250 (around £1,000 per month). With child care vouchers this amount would drop to about £600 per month. However at my previous job I earned less than £1,000 per month working full time, so what would have been the point in me returning to work early if maternity pay was effectively paying me more? I would be working full time for £300 per month, minus my travel costs and never see my baby as oppose to seeing my baby and getting just over £500 per month. Please tell me, what would you do? I do agree with you that people should not have children unless they can afford it, but maternity allowance and benefits make having children 'just about' affordable in this country for everybody. If these allowances were cut then only high earners could afford to have children, unless tax was reduced of course, so people could afford to save to have children. Although I don't see that happening, do you? I decided not to return to work after my maternity leave and before anything is said I don't sponge off the government. My partner works, so we are not entitled to much at all, we struggle every month, but this is the decision that we made. The same applies to small businesses, they know from the very start of their business the potential risks that could happen when the women they employee may leave and have children. Just like women know the financial risks they take when starting a family. It's not financially fair on small businesses and it's not financially fair for new mothers, but that is just the way it is and both sides know this when starting a business or starting a family. There is defiantly a flaw in the government with regards to this issue, mothers cannot be blamed for wanting to do the best for their child. Whether this be financially or wanting to spend as much time as possible with them. Believe me, new mother's don't get much help at all. If you have worked hard during your lifetime you don't get much back for it, you just get grief or so it seems...”

“Mom55

You see this is the crux of the problem adequately expressed in your statement....I certainty deserve help while I am not working.

That's a matter for debate....it will be your decision to have children nobody elses. Whilst i am not for one minute saying that you should not have materinty allowance and - if i'm correct the cost of providing this has not been flagged up as a really significant issue - what i am saying is that - the time off element represents a real problem for an awful lot of employers and that it is this element of materniy benefits that needs to be looked at.

Ultimately I'm afraid I tend to take the side of "if you can't afford them - don't have them"

And before any comment on this is made yes i am a parent, having had children when the only thing you were really entitled to was child allowance of a few pounds per week and maternity entitlements were far far less than they are now- my wife stayed at home and yes we struggled...but it was OUR DECISION.

Furthermore your paying of taxes etc since you were 16 is a totally false argument...we've all paid taxes...not everybody has had any benefit from the state and the way things are going some never will...regardless of how much we're paid in.

Finally on the matter of childcare costs....if done through a child care coucher scheme the actual cost to you for every one hundred pounds worth of vouchers( to a maximim of £ 243 per month ) would be in the region of £ 69... so for your £ 50.00 per week the actual cost to you would be £ 34.50 so you'll enjoy a saving of 31%....quite how much subsidy do you think you should get ?”

“I don't think small businesses should have to pay maternity leave, I think the government should pay it. With the amount of tax and national insurance I have paid since working full time since I was 16, I should be entitled to maternity allowance from somewhere. I paid my taxes and will continue again to pay after my children reach a certain age and I go back to work. I certainty deserve help while I am not working, if the help was not there, how could anyone ever afford to have children . As for child care costs you don't get these reduce, not if your child is under the age of 2, you only get the tax taken away, it can still cost up to 50 pounds a day to put your child into a nursery.”

“You can have all the children you can afford just dont expect others to support you. Simple”

“Child costs Reduced...you do - they are called child care vouchers and any hald respectable employer should be offering these”

“Mom 55...

"Do I sense mother haters on this forum?

By what the below comments are saying is that women should not be allowed to have babies because this makes things an inconvenience for their employers..

No I'm not a mother hater and regardless of your view the length of time a mother can have maternity leave ( 52 weeks ) is more than an inconvience...in some cases as has been stated below it's a scenario that can lead to disruption to the point where - albeit in a few cases - the business actually fails.

You complain about the fact that businesses need to make money...how do you think these entitlements are funded ?

Creches as companies have in America...you need to bear in mind that employment law in America is vastly different to here, i don't think you'll find that American mothers are entitled to 39 weeks pay - not withstanding the child protection checks that the employer would then be legally required to carry out....so who will pay for these ? Not you I suspect.


And finally...it's the governments fault...no it isn't - you don't HAVE to take the full 52 weeks - the legislation only demands that you are absent for the first two weeks following the birth so the fact that IT IS YOUR DECISION to take any further time off is down to you”

“Do I sense mother haters on this forum? We can't win can we? We get people judging us because we want to return to work after having a baby and we get people judging us because we don't want to return to work after having a baby - it's laughable really. I would imagine the below comments are made by chauvinistic men or women who have never had children, who clearly have no idea of the feelings you have towards your child when you become a mother. The moment your baby is born you instinctively never want to leave their side, especially at an age when they cannot fend for themselves (i.e.. the 1st year of their little lives), this is called human nature! This is the reason why mothers take advantage of the generous maternity leave in this country, does this make you a bad employee or an excellent mother?? I know what I would agree with.
I do sympathise with small businesses who do struggle when women go off work on maternity leave, but I don't think mothers should be blamed or penalised for this. This is a government fault. I don't understand why we don't follow in America's footsteps and have crèches in the workplace or child care costs reduced. It works for them, why can't it for us in the UK? Most businesses big or small would argue "it's too just too expensive", but the truth of the matter is that they just cannot be bothered to even look into it. If businesses did their research then they would realise that in the long run they would actually benefit having crèches on site.
By what the below comments are saying is that women should not be allowed to have babies because this makes things an inconvenience for their employers, absolutely ridiculous! Too many people in this world think we are born to make money, it absolutely baffles me... We are mammals, we are put on earth to breed and look after our young - sorry but when you become a mother, everything else comes second place and I am sure most modern fathers would agree this also.”

“Because if you want to start a family, of course someone else should pay for it. And of course it's also worth putting other people's jobs at risk in this way.”