In previous years it seemed a real gift that mothers would be allowed, by statutes, to take maternity leave after the birth of their babies. However, in today’s troubled economy, mothers are finding that they are accumulating altogether too many debts during time away from work and are cutting their maternity leave quite sure. This is according to a survey conducted by uSwitch.com in which 11% stated that it had been necessary to end maternity leave early due to financial burdens time off created.
Then there were those mothers who had planned on staying home with their infants but had found the need to think twice about not returning to work. Finances during this time of austerity are extremely tight and most husbands are making the money they had counted on to see families through postnatal times. On an average, the mothers who had been surveyed stated that take-home monthly income for the household had been £2,866 but while on maternity leave that income dropped to £1,654.
Accordingly, one-tenth of those surveyed are said to have borrowed money from the relatives and another 14% made use of loans, credit cards and overdrafts to help get them through this time. Again, much of this is due to the fact that inflation is almost out of control and wages have been virtually frozen. In addition, savings are not accumulating interest as they had been just a few short years ago which is further adding to the economic woes of family in the UK.
To make matters even worse, the Institute for Fiscal Studies has found that UK families with children can potentially lose as much as £511 annually because of changes to benefits and taxes that took place this month. Ed Balls, the Shadow Chancellor, had earlier stated that these changes would have a significant impact on millions of households which could lose eligibility entirely. In his words, it is a “tax credits bombshell.”
In any case, the end result is that working mothers are no longer able to take maternity leave they are entitled to because finances are in such peril. Many families are choosing to wait several years before starting a family simply for this very reason and although government promised that the UK would be Europe’s most family-friendly country these facts indicate that the nation still has a long way to go.
