The UK is one of the worst countries in Europe when it comes to statutory maternity pay, new research has revealed.
A survey carried out by the TUC found that, of the 24 countries it looked at, the UK came 22nd in the list. Only Ireland and Slovakia, where there is no statutory maternity pay, performed worse.
In the UK, women currently get 1.4 months of maternity leave at what the organisation describes as decent pay.
By contrast, Croatia at the top of the table offers new mums six months of decently paid leave when they have a baby.
The majority of the other countries in Europe provide statutory maternity leave for more than three months, the TUC added.
Frances O’Grady, TUC general secretary, commented: “Many European countries offer decent support to new mums. But lots of parents here are forced back to work early to pay bills.”
As a result of its findings, the union is calling on the British government to change the rules relating to statutory maternity leave and pay. They are asking for maternity pay to be brought in line with the minimum wage and to pay the first six weeks of maternity allowance for self-employed mums at an equivalent rate to earnings-related rates for those in employment.
They also want the government to make shared parental leave more flexible, to enable a phased return to work.
Unequal pay is another area where women tend to lose out, with a survey conducted recently by Glassdoor revealing that 58 per cent of employees believe that companies should be forced to publish employee salaries to help stamp out unequal pay.
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