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Elizabeth Truss: Families need flexibility to make good job of parenthood
EVERY family struggles to balance bringing up children and holding down a job. Various reforms, generally introduced in a ham-fisted way, have been made to nurseries and childcare – to try to provide for low income families. Meanwhile, the approach to maternity leave is stuck in the days of the ration book and the teddy boy.
We need government to help us in times of need. But some parts of the welfare state – by bad design or historical accident – take from the poor and give to the rich, not the other way around.
Maternity pay is one of these areas. Mums earning 50,000 and taking six months' leave, get nearly 8,000 from the taxpayer. Mothers earning the minimum wage of 12,000 per year, receive only half as much.
Because they cannot afford the time off, low-earning women go back to work quicker – so they face a "double whammy" of low pay and short leave. Looking at the country as a whole, Yorkshire mothers lose out to their southern counterparts.
Fathers are treated as "invisible men" in the system. Nearly every other developed country provides greater equality between mothers and fathers on leave and treats fatherhood seriously. The consequences of Britain's approach are clear.
Research last year showed that men in Yorkshire are spending less time with their children than they used to: three-quarters spend less than two hours a day with their children, and almost one in five spends less than half a day a week with them. When fathers fail to be active parents, families suffer.
It has not helped women in the workplace. The structure of maternity pay acts as a golden handcuff, forcing women to make an either/or decision about work or home.
Mothers who want to stay in touch with the workplace without returning full-time, must forfeit their maternity pay. They reflect an outdated (and very British) idea that what counts is hours spent at work rather than work achieved – that presenteeism matters more than productivity.
But some Yorkshire firms go against this trend. For example, Asda, headquartered in Leeds, allows employees to swap shifts easily and take unpaid and short-term leave.
Flexible arrangements can benefit customers too – for example, libraries that open at weekends can provide jobs for hard-pressed parents and a leisure activity for families.
These employers should be encouraged and supported – not punished – by state parental leave arrangements, which are prescriptive and rigid.
That's why Reform argues in a new report that maternity leave should be reformed to make it flatter, fairer and flexible. We propose that all working families receive 5,000 in payments over six months. That equates to 192 per week, compared to the present basic statutory
maternity pay of 123 per week – and, importantly, will not cost taxpayers any more money.
Both mums and dads could use this money to fund time off work, which they would be able to take flexibly, without a financial penalty if they go back early or part-time.
Small employers would no longer have to deal with the Government – instead, they could just work with employees directly to arrange time off.
This is better for low-earners, better for business and, most
importantly, better for families who would be given more choice and flexibility at a very important time.
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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