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New parents should get 5,000, says report

1 min read Early Years
The government should turn maternity pay into a flat rate "parental payment" of 5,000 to be shared by mothers and fathers according to a report by think-tank Reform on the current maternity system.

The report claims the UK's current maternity pay system is one of the most old-fashioned in the entire developed world. It highlights the way in which maternity pay for mothers is largely based on a percentage of their pay, meaning that high-earning mothers get more state funding than those working in low-skilled and casual employment.

Elizabeth Truss, deputy director of Reform, said: "There is something wrong with a system when mothers on high incomes and gold-plated maternity leave also get most money from the taxpayer."

The report goes on to suggest that fathers are "treated as an irrelevance" in regards to paternity pay and leave, only being granted two weeks, which is often not taken.

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