Parental leave plan fails to fix the immediate problem for parents of young babies.

The extension of parental leave by three weeks is a welcome step but the roll out of this initiative fails to fix the immediate problem for parents of young babies.

Reacting to the Government announcement, Labour spokesperson for Employment Affairs Marie Sherlock said

“The extension in parental leave will not become available until November 2020. This means that the crisis facing a number of parents who have exhausted all their maternity, paternity and parental leave and who cannot secure childcare for their young baby is not resolved. These parents are still facing stark choices.”

“Since the covid crisis hit, mothers who were due to return to work after maternity leave have faced the dilemma of having to take unpaid leave that they could not afford to take, seeking special flexibilities from their employers that many did not wish to seek or in a worst case scenario, contemplate leaving their jobs, simply because they could secure childcare.”

The vast majority of creches have told us that they are unable to take on babies under the age of one as they understandably grapple with the new covid safety regulations. This has exacerbated the large deficit in infant places; a problem that long pre-dated the covid crisis.

“In any other year, the extension of parental leave by three weeks would be greeted as great progress and a very welcome step in extending paid leave for parents of babies in this country.”

“However, we are living through an extraordinary set of circumstances. Time is not on the side of working parents as leave becomes exhausted. The country can ill-afford to disincentivise women to return to work after maternity leave at a time where thousands of people across the country are jobless. Already we know that the covid crisis has imposed a set back on the careers of many working mothers. Extending parental leave can help some working mothers, but only if implemented now.

Concluding, Senator Sherlock said “Three weeks additional leave is too little for many parents to secure childcare, but it should not be a case of too little and too late. We are asking the Government to bring forward their proposed extension of parental leave immediately”.