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'Measly' maternity pay forcing new mums to return to work after 12 weeks - survey

Four in 10 mothers took just 12 weeks or less of maternity leave thanks to the UK’s ‘measly’ maternity pay, reveal new findings.

Charity Pregnant Then Screwed, which carried out the research along with Women in Data, is calling on the Government to increase the rate of statutory maternity pay and maternity allowance to the national living wage.

Currently statutory maternity pay is 43 per cent of the national living wage at £184 a week after the first six weeks, which the charity says is causing ‘many families to experience financial hardship’.

Further research from Pregnant Then Screwed finds that the majority of mothers (76 per cent) have had to rely on some form of debt or withdraw money from their savings as a result of low statutory maternity pay. 

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