'March of the Mummies' protest taking place in Norwich today
They are demanding government act to help with rising childcare costs, parental leave and flexible working
Mums across Norfolk are marching in Norwich today- demanding government do more to help with rising childcare costs, parental leave and flexible working.
'March of the Mummies' is a national protest organised by the group 'Pregnant Then Screwed' and it's taking place in cities across the country.
"All of these policies are changeable"
Rebecca Wright is a mum from Norwich and helped to organise this local action.
She says the status quo just isn't working:
"There's 54 thousand women who are pushed out of work and employment every year, simply for falling pregnant. That's the biggest concern and that is mainly because childcare is so expensive, flexible working is not the norm, at the moment in the workplace".
"We would like to see a reform in childcare policy. We currently have the world's 3rd worst ranking maternity benefit; Europe's worst ranking paternity benefit and we have the 2nd most expensive childcare system in the world. All of these policies are changeable."
"It puts people off having children"
Ms Wright told us it's an issue that's affected her personally:
"I was unable to agree a 4-day working week with my previous employer, this ended up with my having to find another position. Thankfully my current employer is so flexible and are happy to take me on as a working mother".
"I take my child to a nursery two times a week and it costs me £560 a month. No matter how much you pre-plan for a child or anything like that, I think it's impossible to save up for it. It puts people off having children, the birthrate is on the decline".
What have the Government said in response to this?
A government spokesperson said:
“The Government is committed to supporting working parents and helping them participate and progress in their working life in a way that’s fair and suits them.
“The UK has one of the most generous maternity leave entitlements in the world and to support working parents we have spent more than £20 billion over the past five years to improve the cost, choice, and availability of childcare.
We want employees to be able to request when, where, and how they work, and that’s why the Government has recently consulted on making the right to request flexible working a day one right for all employees.”