- Conference
- 2011 National Women's Conference
- Date
- 21 October 2010
- Decision
- Carried
The adverse impact of motherhood on the gender pay gap is well known.
The Labour Government has postponed its proposed extension of maternity pay to fifty two weeks, claiming it is inappropriate during the recession. We know that the coalition government will make no commitment to increasing maternity pay.
The CBI attacked the Labour government’s proposals to extend maternity pay as ‘complex’ and ‘unaffordable’ and it now appears that the employers are using the current political and financial situation as an excuse to break discrimination law as the EHRC reports an alarming increasing in the number of pregnant women and new mothers who are being made redundant.
Women are paying the price of the recession and the decisions of the coalition government. Just thirty nine weeks paid leave, and the low level of that pay, mean that taking the full maternity leave entitlement is not an option for low and middle income families, and women are being forced back to work before they are ready.
Conference calls upon the National Women’s Committee to liaise with Labour Link to lobby MPs to bring an early day motion to immediately implement the promised one year’s maternity pay together with genuinely family friendly policies which recognise the value of retaining women in the workforce rather than the short term cost of decent maternity provision.