By Ali Fiddy, Director of Maternity Action Maternity Action, working with a number of our partners and trade union affiliates, was pleased to secure a number of wins in party manifestos, including Labour’s.  Now Labour has been elected, this is what we’re looking forward to working on: Redundancy protection For many years – and most recently in our manifesto to #EndPregnancyPoverty – Maternity Action has been calling for improved protection from redundancy for pregnant women and new mothers.  The new Government has promised that it will make it unlawful to dismiss a woman who is preg ..read more

By Judith Dennis, Head of Policy Maternity Action takes a look at some General Election manifestos; detailed documents setting out commitments made by parties hoping to form the next government or who have a number of prospective parliamentary candidates standing at a General Election. Here we focus on the three main parties that are providing candidates across the UK; the Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat parties.  In addition to setting out in more detail plans that may have been trailed in the media the manifestos are considered to have more weight than ad hoc policy announceme ..read more

By Kate Moran, Senior Policy Officer For the third year running Maternity Action has carried out a survey of women on, or about to take a period of maternity leave – with the sudden and dramatic pay drop  that this entails. Statutory maternity pay and benefits are less than a third of women’s average earnings. More than a thousand women have responded to our survey, sharing their experiences and the negative impact this drop in income had on their health, wellbeing and family relationships.  Sadly our survey shows that during the past two years things have gone from very bad to even ..read more

Just as you did with me, we’re going to start with some icebreaker questions to give our readers a glimpse into who you are. Question one: What was your first job? I started helping out with my family’s hot sauce import and distribution business when I was 16 years old. However, my first full time job after graduating university was as a Trainee Support Worker for a domestic abuse charity, working with women and children in their safe house team. Question two: what did you dream of becoming when you grew up? A figure skater! Question three: what would you say is your professional superpower? I ..read more

Trainee Solicitor Sydney-Anne McAllister interviews Ros Bragg We are going to start with some icebreaker questions just to give our readers a little bit of a glimpse into who you are. Question one: What was your first job? My first full time job was in a factory making venetian blinds.  I worked there for four months before starting university.  All the jobs were badly paid, but the men were paid more than the women.  It was an eye-opener. Question two: as a child, what did you dream of becoming when you grew up? A fairy. I blame Enid Blyton. Question three: what would you say i ..read more

From Monday 20th May, we’ll be celebrating our 15th anniversary. More information, coming soon! Donate to our 15th Anniversary Appeal The need for our work is as great as ever. A donation of £15 could help us answer one call and give expert legal advice to a woman who needs our help. If you would like to help us continue our work, please donate either by text or online. Text donations Please text MATERNITY to 70470 to donate £15. Texts will cost the donation amount plus one standard network rate message, and you’ll be opting into hearing more from us. If you would like to donate but don’t wish ..read more

By Sydney-Anne McAllister, Trainee Solicitor  Blog 2 of 2. For the second of two blogs on the recent employment law changes, let’s take a look at redundancy and paternity leave. For a brief summary of the changes to flexible working and an update on the increased rates of maternity and parental pay, please see part one here.  Redundancy Another development this April has been the extension of the existing redundancy protection under regulation 10 of the Maternity and Parental Leave Regulations 1999. This means that the right to be offered a suitable alternative job (if there is one ..read more

Blog by Catherine Pellegrino, Senior Policy Officer Today, Maternity Action, the Royal College of Midwives and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists are releasing an updated Access Guide. This guide has been produced to assist NHS Trusts to improve access to maternity care for women affected by NHS charging.   Migrant and asylum seeking women affected by NHS charging are disproportionately likely to be Black and/or from a minoritised ethnicity, with increased risk of poor health outcomes. Confidential Enquiries into Maternal Deaths have shown an unabated trend for min ..read more

By Sydney-Anne McAllister, Trainee Solicitor  Blog 1 of 2. Over the past few months, there has been a lot of talk about the new changes to employment law which take effect from 6 April 2024. Now that April is in full swing, Maternity Action has summarised the key changes and how they might impact you if you are pregnant or a new parent. This is the first of two blogs about these changes.  Flexible working After maternity or parental leave you may need to return to work on a flexible or part-time basis to fit around your childcare. Flexible working covers a range of different working ..read more

By Annah Psarros, Senior Policy Officer Maternity pay in the UK is some of the lowest among comparable countries and the cost of living crisis has exacerbated the financial hardship experienced by new mothers and their families. Mothers are returning to work earlier than they would like in order to avoid long periods of low income – with potentially detrimental effects on their health and wellbeing.  ‘The terrible maternity leave conditions we have was already a worry, never mind the cost of living crisis we now face as well.’ Survey Respondent Women in the UK have very low rates of mat ..read more