A UK care home group is pioneering an inclusive and “progressive” parental leave policy, which aims to provide “generous” options for all parents within its organisation.

According to findings issued by Maternity Action in 2023, 71% of women on maternity leave worry about money. 

To reduce spending, three-quarters turn their heating off or down and a quarter skip meals, with one in 20 allegedly going without food for a whole day.

Today the basic rate statutory maternity pay is just 47% of the National Living wage, in comparison to 2021 when it was 62.5%.

Care home group Elizabeth Finn Homes has launched a parental leave pay policy that aims to provide all employees who become parents the opportunity to take time to bond with, support and raise their child during the first year of the child’s life, or in the case of adoption, the first year of an employee becoming a parent to the child.

“I am utterly delighted to announce the launch of our new and greatly enhanced Family Leave Policy,” commented Olivia Curno, chief executive. “We believe we have developed one of the most progressive, generous and family-centred approaches in the care sector. We continuously strive to be a caring, supportive employer, and by offering these enhanced benefits, we set an example we hope other providers will follow.”

The new Elizabeth Finn Homes policy outlines the rights and entitlements of employees when welcoming a new child into their lives, setting out both basic and enhanced entitlements relating to new and expectant birth parents at work, birth-parent leave, shared parental leave, adoption leave, co-parent leave, parental leave and parental bereavement leave.

Curno added: “The margins in care are incredibly tight. It’s a chronically underfunded sector trying to meet ever mounting needs and costs but short-changing new parents is a false economy. Comparing care sector spending on agency staff and recruitment, excellent family policies might be just the investment we should be making to keep social care workers – 81% of whom are women – healthy, happy and retained by our sector.”