Released on: 08 July 2015

Responding to today’s Budget, NCT Public Affairs Manager Abigail Wood said:

“In a punishing Budget for new families, there was some good news that maternity pay will be exempt from the freeze in working age benefits.

“However, the new limits on child tax credits and the scrapping of the first child premium in Universal Credit is another blow to hard-working mums and dads struggling to cope with the cost of raising a family. 

“This budget continues the assault on measures to support parents during their first 1,000 days including the axing of the baby element of child tax credits, the Health in Pregnancy grant, the Child Trust Fund and the Sure Start Maternity Grant for second children. This is alongside the 1% limit on annual increases to maternity and paternity pay which mean it is worth £220 less* in real terms than it was three years ago.

“Today’s cuts to families with babies mean any future claims the Government make about being family-friendly will ring very hollow.”

 

ENDS

 

Notes to Editors:

*NCT research commissioned from IPPR found that under government plans to limit annual increases in maternity and paternity pay to 1%, by 2015 parents will have lost out by around £224 throughout the course of their 39 weeks parental leave. This was based on an analysis of Family Resources Survey data.

For more information see: http://www.nct.org.uk/get-involved/campaigns/defending-maternity-and-pa…;

 

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