Low-paid lose out on maternity pay

The charity has called for the rules on women's entitlement to statutory maternity pay to be amended following a report based on calls taken by its free legal helpline. The report found that because of the way maternity pay is calculated, some women risk losing their entitlement if they are sick while pregnant.

"For low-paid women the problem is particularly acute as they only need to be off sick for a short time before their average pay drops below the required amount," the report said.

The report also found many parents were still struggling to work more flexibly and branded some employers' reasons for turning down their requests as unacceptable.

Sarah Jackson, chief executive of Working Families, said: "Families on low incomes face serious constraints in exercising their rights to spend time with their children. Flexible working simply isn't available to those with intransigent employers and our report also reveals some injustices about sickness during pregnancy."