unicornnews: Maternity leave policy not good for women

This story’s been all over the news, so you might already have heard about it. Nicola Brewer, Chief Executive of the Equalities And Human Rights Commission, has said that it’s not a good idea to extend maternity leave, because far from being the benefit to women that it’s usually thought to be, longer stretches could be damaging women’s career prospects.

Noting that so-called ‘improved’ maternity benefits offer women a full year off work after the birth of each child, Brewer suggests that it promotes the idea that it should be the woman who is responsible for staying at home with children, instead of encouraging the idea that it should be a shared responsibility, and, therefore, this extra time off work should be offered to both parents.

Posted Wednesday July 16 2008 by Caro Moses