771 new mothers in Neath to be hit by Cameron’s ‘Mummy Tax’

Peter Hain has condemned David Cameron’s plans to impose a ‘Mummy Tax’ on new mothers whilst simultaneously slashing the tax paid by millionaires. The real terms cut in maternity pay will effectively result in a £180 tax on working mothers and is set to hit 771 local working mums in Neath this year.

Mr. Hain commented, ‘The Prime Minister promised that his would be the most family-friendly Government ever, but the fact that he is planning a £100,000 tax cut to millionaires whilst targeting new mums shows where his true priorities lie. Instead to hitting the work-shy as the Government claims to be doing this is directly affecting working families and mothers who want to take time off work to look after their newborn baby.

‘Neath families with a new baby already face tough financial pressures with the rising cost of fuel and food. Cuts to maternity pay will be a crushing blow to working mums in my constituency. For many local families already facing cuts to child benefits, this will be the final straw.’

New mothers are already amongst the hardest hit by the coalition’s tax and benefit changes. In addition to the severe cuts to child benefit and tax credit changes faced by all parents – including child benefit freezes, reductions in support for childcare and frozen tax credits – new mothers have already lost Health in Pregnancy Grant, in addition to new restrictions to the Sure Start Maternity Grant and the scrapping of the baby addition to the Child Tax Credit.

Figures compiled by the House of Commons Library have now confirmed that low paid new mothers will lose £1,300 during pregnancy and their baby’s first year due to cuts to pregnancy support, tax credits and maternity pay. They are also losing a further £422 from cuts to child benefit over the same period.

Mr. Hain is joining Labour MPs across the country in opposing the ‘Mummy Tax’ and is urging people in Neath to sign a petition to David Cameron, calling on him to ‘help mums not millionaires’. To find out more visit the website, www.labour.org.uk/mumsnotmillionaires.