17 November 2020
Following a vote by the States Assembly, the Island’s maternity benefits will be updated to provide wider support for families.
Members voted 40-1 in favour of the Regulations lodged by the Minister for Social Security, Deputy Judy Martin, which will replace Maternity Allowance with Parental Allowance, and replace Maternity Grant with Parental Grant.
Both Parental Allowance and Parental Grant will be available to all eligible parents (including adoptive and surrogate parents) whose child is expected to be born or adopted on or after 1 January 2021.
The change from Maternity Allowance to Parental Allowance also increases how many weeks parents can claim, from 18 weeks to 32 weeks. Parents will be able to choose how they divide the 32 weeks and can take them over a two-year period.
Mothers who are currently claiming Maternity Allowance will not be affected by the change.
Minister for Social Security, Deputy Judy Martin, said: “I’d like to thank all the members who have voted for this important measure. We recognise that families look very different in 2020 than they did in the mid-1970s, when we originally introduced the Maternity Allowance and Maternity Grant.
“The introduction of parental benefits means that we can support more parents to have as much time as possible with their children during those crucial early years.”
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