Clause 1 - Maternity pay period
Work and Families Bill
10:45 am
Norman Lamb (Shadow Secretary of State for Trade & Industry, Trade & Industry; North Norfolk, Liberal Democrat)
I think that the opposite is the case. The power will be in the hands of the woman. Some women will be financially able to take the full amount of maternity leave, but Ministers must accept that the reality is that not all women can do that. Many women will have to take less than that because they cannot afford to be off work at such a rate of pay for the full one-year period.
This measure would mean that more women will be able to take more time off, and to choose how to do that. If we have a situation in which a proportion of women cannot afford to take a full year so they take significantly less than that, I am sure that the hon. Member for Dundee, West (Mr. McGovern) would agree that that is not good. However, if the mother is able to take nine months at a higher weekly rate than for the full year, and that facilitates her taking the nine months off, perhaps combined with flexible working when she returns to work—a phased return—that will be a good thing that ensures that women are able to take more time off than would otherwise be the case.