Lucy Towers, a first-time mother, went back to work as a freelance journalist and television producer in London when her daughter, Ottilie, was only a little over three months old. Being self-employed, Lucy had been saving money since she became pregnant, with plans to use her savings to top up the £600 a month maternity allowance she’d be receiving after giving birth.

But once she was on maternity leave, she found out her savings, which she considered a “healthy” amount, weren’t going to cut it with this year’s rising costs, especially the cost of keeping the house warm enough for her new baby through the winter.

“I was looking at my bank balance and working out how much money I had to live on for the year and alarm bells were ringing,” she said.

While her boyfriend covered the mortgage, Lucy had to make sure their £500 a month bills, not including food, were paid. “I had £100 plus any savings I had every month,” she said. “It wasn’t enough to live on.”

Lucy returned to work, but she now feels guilt for having “lost” months she can’t get back with her daughter. She’s since taken a lower-paid and less pressured job. “I wasn’t physically or mentally able to take on a demanding role,” she said. “My body is still healing. And being a mother to a baby is incredibly tiring. I’m very tired.”

Mothers all over the UK are cutting their maternity leaves short to cope with the soaring costs of living. New research from Pregnant Then Screwed has found that only one in four mothers are able to take their full maternity leave entitlement.

The research sample of 5,165 mothers has looked at the impact of low parental pay on new families, with one in 10 new mums needing to return to work as early as four months after giving birth because they can’t afford to stay off any longer.

“We have some of the lowest rates of parental leave pay in the world,” said Lauren Fabianski, head of campaigns and communications at Pregnant Then Screwed. “National minimum wage is the legal minimum a person should be paid, yet new mothers are meant to survive on less than half of this amount for 33 weeks, while their outgoings remain the same. It’s an impossible situation for new mothers to be in.”

Currently, statutory maternity leave pay in the UK is paid for up to 39 weeks. Mothers receive 90% of average weekly earnings before tax for the first six weeks. Then it’s £172.48 or 90% of your average weekly earnings (whichever is lower) for the next 33 weeks – this is less than half of the national living wage. For mothers who don’t qualify for statutory maternity pay, they could qualify for maternity allowance, which entitles them to £172.48 or 90% of their average weekly earnings (whichever is lower) for up to 39 weeks.

The cost of living crisis has only exacerbated the financial state of new mums, and to cover increasing costs of essentials such as mortgages, rent, food, fuel, clothing, gas and electricity, mums are ending their maternity leaves early.

It was only six weeks after her baby was born that Sarah Louise Lane, a support worker in Herefordshire, headed back to work. “I discovered that since my partner and I receive Universal Credit, any money from maternity allowance would be deducted from our Universal Credit. It cancelled out any increase in income from maternity allowance and left us on one income.”

Then, “overnight”, the cost of living crisis hit, and with four children to feed, Sarah knew that she had to go back to work. “I ended up returning to work as a support worker, bringing my baby with me,” she said. “He was young and slept lots.”

Eventually, she had to change jobs and now works as a nanny so she could work more hours and take her own kids to work, avoiding the price of childcare.

Returning to work early from maternity leave can have a huge impact on the mental and physical health of new mums and their babies, and there are stats to show it already has. NHS data from August 2022 – March 2023 showed an 8% increase in new mothers accessing support for mental health services on the NHS.

“We have also seen an increase in infant mortality in the UK,” said Fabianski. “Poverty has a significant impact on the risk of stillbirth and death during infancy. Ultimately, it is a false economy to not pay parental leave at a rate at which families can survive and thrive and the knock-on effects are lasting.”

Pregnant Then Screwed is hearing from women who, on their return to the workplace, are told by their bosses not to mention that they’d just had a baby when talking to customers. “Like it’s something to be ashamed of,” said Fabianski. “But without proper rates of maternity pay, women are left with no other choice.”

Without intervention, there are concerns from charities working with new mothers that there will be a continued increase in the number of new mothers accessing mental health services and devastating data on infant mortality rates.

“These numbers will continue to rise if we do not support mothers to have the maternity leave that they desperately want,” concluded Fabianski. “If we want a well-functioning society then we need to support the very people that are bringing children into the world. We need to see the rate of statutory parental leave pay increased to meet the national living wage, which is the legal minimum wage a person should be paid to be able to live. Asking mothers to survive on less than half of this amount for 33 weeks is barbaric – and it’s not working.”

A Government spokesperson told Stylist: “We want every child to have the best start in life, which is why have increased Statutory Maternity Pay and Maternity Allowance by over 10% this year.

“Parents who are ready to return to work will benefit from the single biggest investment in childcare in England ever and we’re supporting those who are struggling with record financial support worth around £3,300 per household as we drive down inflation to make everyone’s money go further.”

Images: Getty