UK parents to divide 9 months leave

The British will extend paid maternity leave from six months to nine and allow moms and dads to divide it between them.

British women will continue to get 90% of their salary from their employer for the first six months of leave. Now they'll also get [pounds sterling]106 a week ($197) for an additional three months. Although the government says it will pick up the tab for the extra time off, 80% of businesses surveyed by the British Chambers of Commerce are against it, concerned about the cost of absent workers, training replacements, etc. Families aren't raving either; 40% of dads surveyed said they wouldn't take any paternity leave unless it was covered at full pay, and one mother of two suggested that, "Instead of spending more money on keeping mothers at home, they should concentrate on the desperate shortage of skilled childcare at an affordable price." But Tony Blair's Labour party evidently feels it's the way to court working families, and they're determined to do so. Blair deserves much of the credit, says The Guardian, for the UK's recent rise in minimum wage from [pounds sterling]4.85 ($9.28) to [pounds sterling]5.05 ($9.66), a move their editorial complained was "not generous."

# 19902 THE BBC, 2-27-05

THE GUARDIAN VIA NEWSEDGE CORP., 2-28-05

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