Maternity Pay, Nursery Fees and the Living Wage

Following the news last week that the current cost of living is £11.05 per hour, I thought it would be interesting to work out how much people are paid on the island’s Maternity Allowance.

It was a big bone of contention for me after having my son, and it’s a huge consideration for my family when it comes to having a second. 

To sum up quickly, the Allowance is currently about half of the current minimum wage, so way less than half of the current “living wage”.

From my calculations, £11.05 per hour (based on a 37.5 hour week) would give you £414.38 per week, so around £1658 per month. Minimum wage at the moment is £9.50, and again based on a 37.5 hour week, comes out at £356.25 or around £1425 per month.

The Maternity Allowance is paid at a maximum rate of £179.85 per week (even less for those who are self-employed), totalling £359.70 every other week (which is how it’s paid), or £719.40 per month. And on top of that, it runs out after 39 weeks, so you either go back to work, dip into your savings (if you have any left now!) or you go without any income for the last three months of your Mat leave (using a full year as an example.)

So, my question is, how on earth do you expect families to manage on this? My family is in a very good position, with good (but not great) Maternity Pay from my employer, my husband is in a good job that pays well and we’re fortunate enough to have family who look after our son for us while I’m at work, meaning we have no nursery fees. Even with all of this, we struggled the last time I was on Maternity Leave because the amount I brought in was not enough to really contribute other than to cover my personal bills and help towards other household expenses, and we did have savings for the year – but they go on your child (kids are expensive!). And now that bills have gone up, some by 190% (I think), in the last year, I have no idea what position that’s going to leave us in while I’m on leave.

The answer is not “take less maternity leave”, because that does not solve the problem for the large majority of families. Parents who take less maternity leave often have to find a childminder or nursery who will accept children below the age of 2 (there are very few on island, and most spaces are booked up really fast), and fees for under 2s come at a premium because they need one-on-one care.

Couple that with the fact that nursery fees are likely to increase as well now to cover their increased costs, it’s going to become a real struggle for a lot of families. Furthermore you’re forcing families to potentially give up valuable time with their young children, because they cannot afford to continue with their parental leave. Or they’re going to give up their health, wellbeing, food, heating etc…all so they can have that precious time. 

On top of all of this, companies really should be encouraged to review their parental leave policies and ensure that they are fit for purpose, meet the needs of their employees and offer an equal opportunity for all. 

I’m not sure about parental leave as a whole, but I believe that the Maternity Allowance has not been reviewed since 2011 and it desperately needs to be. I fully understand that it’s a benefit, and that people may not agree with me, or understand why it’s a problem, but to be honest, right now, it’s as simple as: it’s a benefit that just is not as beneficial as it should be.

This morning, as with yesterday we are giving over Gef to you, our readers.

We will be running a series of articles which reflect the challenges people on our island are already facing ahead of a a rise in fuel bills and others costs heading into the winter months.

We are doing this because today sees CoMin meet before all Tynwald members gather for a behind closed doors discussion on what to do to help people on our island.

We hope members read these articles, they are after all the experiences of their constituents and our fellow islanders. You can also email your MHKs and all members of Tynwald with your feelings, thoughts and concerns. All their email addresses and some of their phone numbers can be found here.