We provide pregnant women and new mothers with free specialist legal advice and representation on employment rights, maternity pay and benefits. We campaign for stronger maternity rights including higher rates of maternity pay. We aim to reduce poverty, promote health and improve gender equality.
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Every year 77% of working mothers suffer from maternity discrimination, and 11% lose their jobs, costing £112m in lost wages and maternity pay. Women in low paid, insecure work (agency work / zero hours contracts) are less likely to know about and assert their rights. Many women struggle financially while on maternity leave. Statutory Maternity Pay is £187 a week, just 44% of the National Living Wage. In a recent survey, 97% of women told us they worried about money while on maternity leave.
Maternity Action's unique and powerful combination of advice service delivery and policy work enables us to improve the situations of thousands of individual women while working towards achieving broader systemic change which will impact pregnant women and new mothers as a whole. We are able to tell the story to policy makers using a sound evidence base drawing on the experiences of the women we advise and our own research.
