READERS REVEAL: The Realities of Maternity Leave

A large chasm has opened up between women whose employers pay full maternity benefit and those who receive nothing beyond the statutory State maternity benefit for six months after giving birth.  As our annual Slice of Ireland survey once more revealed what's really going on in the hearts and homes of families across the country, one of the key issues for our readers was the disparity between women whose employers 'top-up' their state maternity benefit and those who do not. Fifty-five per cent of HerFamily.ie readers continue to receive their normal gross salary while on maternity leave, while the maternity benefit of €230 per week is paid directly by the Department of Social Protection (DSP) to their employer. For 52 per cent of readers however, the €230 weekly maternity benefit payment is the only income they can depend on for 26 weeks, regardless of what they usually take home. Because Irish employers are not obliged to offer full maternity benefit to their staff (in fact, 25 per cent fewer businesses offer full maternity benefit since the recession), 50 per cent of readers admit they will be using their savings to see them through their maternity leave. Reader, Jenny, told us:

"Maternity leave should be what is best for the baby and the mother, and shouldn't be spent worrying about money. I'm going to the end of my maternity leave and it's been very hard. It's demoralising knowing I have to go back after a hard six months."

When it comes to sharing the load, 70 per cent of readers would favour joint maternity leave and believe paternity leave should be changed to joint parental leave that can be split and shared however a couple see fit. And most feel the allocated amount of leave is not long enough, in fact 82 per cent of HerFamily.ie readers think women should be entitled to spend longer than six months at home with a new baby before returning to work. While there's no denying we fare better than US mums, who are entitled to no more than 12 weeks unpaid maternity leave, other countries such as Finland pay mums 70 per cent of their normal salary until their baby is nine months old. In France, women can count on 100 per cent of their normal wage for 16 weeks. Self-employed women in Ireland have a particularly difficult challenge ahead of them when they decide to have children. Another reader told HerFamily.ie:

"I went back after four weeks on my first and eight on my second. I work freelance and if I'm off the radar I'll get forgotten about. I don't know what employed people get for maternity but I got little more than the dole... PLUS the guilt of returning early."

Whatever their entitlements, our readers agreed that it is not always easy or straightforward to find out what they are. The majority, 80 per cent, believe that maternity leave entitlements should be written into all working contracts from day one so no woman is forced to ask her employer about them later, something that makes many women feel uncomfortable. What do you think of maternity leave in Ireland right now? What would you change? Let us know on Twitter @HerFamilydotie.