Just weeks after the former women and equalities minister, Kemi Badenoch, said that maternity pay is ‘excessive’, new research from Pregnant Then Screwed, and Women in DataⓇ has revealed that 4 in 10 mothers took just 12 weeks or less following the birth of their most recent child — thanks to the low maternity pay in the UK.

According to Citizen’s Advice, statutory maternity pay lasts up to 39 weeks, made up of: 6 weeks getting 90% of your average weekly pay (before tax), 33 weeks getting either £184.03 a week or 90% of your average weekly pay (before tax) – whichever is less. Which is a staggering 43% of the national living wage.

Excessive isn’t quite the word, really.

Given how poorly parents are treated once they’ve had children, it’s perhaps no surprise that the UK’s fertility rate is falling faster than any other G7 nation – with austerity thought to be ‘principal factor’.

If we can’t afford to look after our babies once they are born, it makes sense that many people are choosing to not have their own children at all.

One person on X said: “Most adults now have to live with parents through their 20s, commonly through their 30s.

“Millennials are the first generation to be poorer than the last in over 200 years, and have had an adulthood of austerity, recession, and a pandemic. Why would they have kids?”

Pregnant Then Screwed is calling on the government to increase the rate of statutory maternity pay and maternity allowance to the national living wage. An amount which is widely regarded as the absolute minimum someone needs to live on.

In a press statement, the charity said: “We know that maternity leave more than 12 weeks has huge benefits for a mother and her child. It decreases rates of maternal physical and mental health issues, decreases infant mortality and improves rates of breastfeeding.”

Joeli Brearley, CEO and Founder of Pregnant Then Screwed commented, “The perinatal period is critically important to the health and well-being of a mother and her child, and I think we should all be deeply concerned that due to severe hardship, we are now seeing a degeneration and a degradation of this vital period.

“Ultimately, It is a false economy to not pay parental leave at a rate on which families can survive and thrive.

“We need a government that will listen to parents, creating policies which ensure they can survive and thrive, particularly in those early days. Right now we are falling way behind our European counterparts, and it is not only this generation which is suffering the consequences, but it will be the next.’’