At 47% of the national minimum wage, how maternity pay is 'excessive' is truly beyond me

30 September 2024, 13:08

On Sunday morning, I woke up to find two things: the start of the conservative party conference and Kemi Badenoch’s damning comments suggesting maternity pay had gone too far.

Not off to a great start, are we?

As a parent myself and someone who had to work through her maternity leave in the hospital bed just a few hours after giving birth because SMP wasn’t enough, my views are quite contrary to Kemi’s, and it won’t come as a shock to many (maybe Kemi) but I think the UK’s maternity pay is dire.

At 47% of the national minimum wage, the latter 33 weeks of SMP (£184.03 per week) doesn’t even cover the average rent in the UK which currently stands at £1,327 per month. You also must be working or very recently working to qualify for maternity pay, so you have paid into the system to be entitled to such support.

She also expressed disdain that maternity pay ‘takes from one group of people to give to another’ - which is exactly how tax works. Imagine proudly announcing this stance to listeners up and down the country who are struggling to heat their homes, balance work and childcare and shoulder the rising cost of, well, everything.

It’s worrying to think people like Kemi are responsible for setting the legislation that governs people's daily lives. If you listened to the full interview, Kemi also stated we can’t keep looking to the government to provide solutions and shoulder responsibility, but actually, when it comes to SMP, isn’t it the government’s responsibility to do exactly that - set the legislation?

Kemi was using maternity pay as an example of the burden of regulation going 'too far' and even suggesting that businesses are closing or not starting as a result. However, small businesses recoup 103% of statutory maternity pay and apply for advanced funding. All other businesses recoup 92%.

I would argue that because statutory maternity pay is so poor, it puts MORE pressure on businesses because they feel obliged to pay a rate above SMP so their employees can actually afford life.

In response to my LinkedIn post on this topic, a business owner commented that this is exactly what was happening to them. Statutory maternity pay was so low that they felt obliged to have an enhanced offer, even though that was tough for them as a business, because supporting their staff at this time was a priority.

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Katie Guild is the co-founder of Nugget Savings.

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