Paid maternity leave could be increased from six weeks to 12 weeks and single-parent families could be entitled to additional support, if recommendations from a scrutiny panel are taken forward.
Published today, the review by the Family Friendly Review Sub-Panel recommended that funding should be brought forward to introduce a total of 12 weeks paid maternity leave – made up of six weeks of employer-funded leave and six weeks of government-funded leave.
The panel pointed to studies which showed that around 12 weeks of paid maternity leave is linked to decreased psychological distress among mothers, reduced intimate partner violence, lower infant mortality, better attachment between parents and the baby, and increased breastfeeding duration.
The report concluded that Jersey must urgently “move from legislative ambition to operational effectiveness” if family-friendly rights are to be real, accessible and fit for modern life.
“Benefits of the legislation are not equally shared”
The Family Friendly Review Sub-Panel identified 55 findings and put forward 22 recommendations as part of its review.
As well as suggestions to introduce a total of 12 weeks’ paid maternity leave, the eight key recommendations included exploring additional support for single-parent households, and extending existing leave entitlements to grandparents, family members and other carers who play a significant role in the early stages of a child’s life.
Although current legislation offers up to 52 weeks’ leave per parent, the review found that most families cannot afford to take it beyond the first six weeks of employer-paid leave.
The sub-panel found that mortgages, rent, food and fuel costs exceed household income during unpaid leave, with returning to work early becoming a “financial necessity”.
“Low-income parents, single parents, shift workers, zero-hour workers and the self-employed are disproportionately affected, meaning the benefits of the legislation are not equally shared,” the report said.
Ensuring single-parents are not “disadvantaged”
Under the current legislation, parental leave entitlement is granted on a per-parent basis.
This means single-parent families effectively have access to half of the total leave available to two-parent households, and their children accordingly gain half of the benefit of this caring time.
The panel recommended that the parental leave framework should be amended to ensure that single-parent families are not “structurally disadvantaged”.
“This should include exploring additional paid leave, enhanced financial support, or supplementary benefits for sole carers so that a child in a single-parent household does not receive half the parental time and support available to children in two-parent families, so that parity of opportunity for single parents reflects modern family structures and promote fairness within the legislation,” the report said.
It also noted that a “very large proportion of respondents rely heavily on grandparents to make childcare viable”.
“For many, grandparent support is what enables them to work at all,” the report said.
“However, the responses also highlight inequity: those without family on-island are at a significant disadvantage.
“These parents frequently described exhaustion, financial strain, and a sense of being ‘penalised’ by policies that implicitly assume extended family availability.”
The panel said that this evidence supports the arguments for transferable or extended leave to grandparents, tax allowances or recognition for informal caregivers, and more universal childcare solutions.
“The impact is not always felt equally in practice”
Panel chair Deputy Louise Doublet said: “When the States Assembly introduced more family-friendly employment legislation, the intention was to support all families. However, the evidence we have gathered during this review suggests that the impact is not always felt equally in practice.
“Single-parent families are an important part of modern family life, yet the current framework does not always reflect their circumstances fairly, nor is it equitable for children from these families.”
She added: “We also heard clearly that many different groups of islanders, including those on lower and middle incomes, shift workers, people on zero-hour contracts and the self-employed, cannot afford to take all of their parental leave.
“This means many children are not benefiting from being cared for by their parents in their earliest months, which can impact on their healthy development.
“It is important that legislation delivers on its original purpose, and we encourage the Social Security Minister to consider how access to parental leave and related support can be improved so that all families have a genuine opportunity to give their children the best possible start in life.”