Andrew Lloyd examines the relationship between paternity and maternity leaves, and asks how to close the gap?
In September, maternity pay was in the news when Kemi Badenoch (then a Conservative candidate for leadership and now leader) described maternity payment during an interview with Times Radio. This came as the Conservative campaign began.
Many, including Badenoch, argue that the interview was misrepresented or misreported. However, the anger of some public sections reflects the challenges many women face, both professionally and financially, when they take maternity leave.
“It is difficult to explain the gender pay gap by discrimination alone”.
There can be serious differences in maternity pay between companies. The statutory maternity pay is 90 percent of the full salary for six weeks. After that, it drops to a maximum of PS184.03 (and then nothing) for 33 weeks. Many women find this situation financially challenging.
Public sector and large companies are more generous. For example, the Ministry of Justice pays full salary for six months. This is not the standard. The financial impact of maternity and pregnancy leave can be significant, but it is less than the career gap that results.
Maternity is undoubtedly one of the major factors that contribute to the gender pay gap. In 2023 the gender pay gap was 14.3%. This is a much smaller gap than the 27,5% recorded in 1997. However, there are still some ways to go.
The effect of maternity leaves becomes apparent when you dig deeper into the figures for the gender pay gap. The gender pay gap, which is 14.3% in total, almost falls to 7.7% if you compare only men and women who are full-time employees.
When comparing women and men aged 22-29, the gender pay gap is only 3% and negative for those aged 18-21.
Discrimination is not enough to explain the gender pay gap. In many ways, younger women are more advanced than men. Women are more likely than men to attend university. Nearly two thirds of all new solicitors and doctors are women.
The figures show that the gender gap in pay increases with age. It reaches over 10% by the time employees reach the age of 40, even for full-time workers.
After women have had children, it is common for them to decrease their work participation and hours. Women who have children often reduce their working hours, either by choice or necessity. The Institute for Fiscal Studies reported that in 2021 the employment rate for women without kids was 90%, but for women with kids it was only 75%.
The days of men never changing a diaper are long gone, but the majority still falls to women. The length of parental leaves is a good indicator of this historical trend. Women take up to a year’s worth of maternity leave. Paternity Pay, on the other hand, is only 2 weeks.
“When women return from maternity leaves, they often experience situations of redundancy, which is illegal.
Professional women can find pregnancy particularly challenging. Personal contacts become increasingly important as careers progress. Lawyers, accountants, and financial advisers with a large “following” are valued for their loyalty to clients. It is hard to maintain a following when you take a year off from the workplace. Clients often move on. When women return from maternity leaves, they find that their employers have reallocated the work. This is often illegal and can be a redundancy situation.
When you listen to the entire interview, Ms Badenoch said that the rate for maternity pay is “neither here or there”. She also stated that she wants an environment that allows people to “make their decisions”. It is fair to say, in terms of the gender wage gap, that the rate for maternity pay has little impact and is largely driven by individual and cultural decisions.
Shared parental leave is one area in which couples can make their own choices. Men can already take part of the maternity leave of a female partner. In 2023, only 5% men used this right.
Few would dispute that men who choose to stay home with their children are viewed as a bit odd.
The rate of pay also matters in this area. Men who take shared parental leave are offered PS184.03 (the legal minimum), despite the fact that many large companies offer generous maternity pay. Shared parental leave is not feasible for many couples.
A cultural issue is also at play. Few would dispute that some people are surprised when a father leaves his job to raise a family. If there were a real cultural shift and the time taken to raise children by men and women was divided more evenly, then it’s clear that this gender pay gap could be reduced.
The government can do more to encourage men to take on childcare duties. They could start by equalising and encouraging shared parental leave. It is possible to reduce the financial and professional hardships that come with maternity pay and leave.
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