In April 2021, New Zealand joined a small number of countries offering paid leave for those who experience pregnancy loss. In the same month, The Lancet published data on the mental health impacts of miscarriages showing private grief and misconception can lead to women and their partners feeling at fault.
Over half of UK employers now provide enhanced maternity and paternity pay Published:
24 May 2021 Nearly two thirds (63.5%) of businesses offer maternity pay above the statuary minimum in the UK, and three-fifths (60.8%) offer enhanced paternity pay.
The findings, from a report by XpertHR, show encouraging signs that employers are taking support for their working parents more seriously.
Full pay for more than six weeks followed by the standard statutory maternity pay rate was one of the most common ways (favoured by 42.4%) employers had enhanced pay.
Financial incentives or other benefits were also offered by 45.9% of businesses to help when returning from maternity leave, an added bonus more common (rising to 59.1%) in organisations of 1,000 or more employees.