Usdaw calls on the Government to better support parents, including kinship carers

Moving the motion in the Brighton Centre, Joanne Thomas - Usdaw General Secretary said: “Now is the time for the Labour Government to make bold changes to our system of leave and pay rights for parents, to remodel it so that it reflects the changing face of today’s labour market and the diversity of today’s families. The UK is almost the worst country in Europe when it comes to offering decently paid maternity leave. Add the continuing cost-of-living crisis into the mix and the result is that many parents are either in the middle, or on the brink, of financial crisis.

“While concerns over increases in the cost of energy and food have been widely reported, what has received less attention is the shocking rise in the price of things that are essential for looking after a new baby. Our members in supermarkets see it with their own eyes – the cost of formula, baby wipes, nappies, have all rocketed. The rewards of parenting can’t be counted, but the costs of raising a baby certainly can and they add up very quickly.

“It is estimated that parents have to pay out at least £6,000 on essentials for a baby in their first year, but a retail worker would lose this amount, and more, by taking her full 52 weeks’ maternity leave. And of course, it’s not just about the extra costs relating to having a child, because when you’re on maternity leave, your rent still needs to be paid, your family still needs to eat, you still need to heat your home and for low-paid workers, there is no spare capacity to cope when their income drops.

“The system is failing new mothers. It's failing to give them enough time to protect their physical and mental health. It is also failing fathers and co-parents. The strict rules governing entitlement exclude many fathers and co-parents from taking Paternity or Shared Parental Leave. The complete absence of a separate, well-paid period of leave reserved especially for fathers and co-parents, together with the very low rates of pay, means many are denied any meaningful time with their baby in the first year of its life. This is bad for fathers and co-parents, it is bad for mothers, it is bad for babies and young children, and it is bad for gender equality.

“And what about those with parental responsibility who are currently locked out of leave and pay rights altogether; including tens of thousands of kinship carers who step in to care, often at short notice, to raise children whose parents can’t; and yet are expected back at work the following day like nothing has happened? Without any right to paid leave, kinship carers are at high risk of dropping out of the labour market altogether, or being compelled to reduce their hours at a time when they can least afford to. Making paid leave available to kinship carers is long overdue.

“The review provides the Government with an opportunity to plug this gap, and it’s an opportunity they must not throw away. We all recognise that reforming the parental leave system won’t happen overnight. We recognise that fixing our current system so that it works for today’s families needs time and investment, but doing nothing, or just tweaking around the edges, has a far greater cost, with parents, families and the future of our economy paying the highest price. We cannot, and will not, stand by and let that happen.”