Maternity leave - EU should lead way on equal benefits

BRITAIN and Ireland have the lowest levels of statutory maternity benefits in Western Europe. For too long people in this country aped aspects of British society, but this is an aspect in which we should be looking elsewhere.

A woman earning €22,000 annually would have a statutory entitlement of €5,800, compared with €5,300 in Britain, which contrasts starkly with Denmark and Norway, where the statutory benefits are as much as €11,000. Britain and Ireland rank behind even some of the East European countries like Hungary, where benefits are 21% higher than this country, and Poland, where the benefits are almost 19% higher.

There are significant differences in the extent of maternity leave in different countries.

In Sweden, 96 weeks of paid leave is accorded while Norway and Denmark give 53 and 50 weeks, respectively. France and the Netherlands provide only 16 weeks of paid maternity leave, while workers in this country are entitled to 22 weeks at present. This will increase to 26 weeks in March of 2007.

As businesses have to complete in a global economy, maternity leave should be standardised, and the European Union should provide the leadership.

In view of the current low level of benefits here, such standardisation would almost inevitably benefit Irish women.