Hundreds came together in Newcastle’s city centre to take part in March of the Mummies, a national protest organised by Pregnant Then Screwed. Newcastle was one of eleven cities across the UK where the march took place on Saturday 29 October, and an estimated 15,000 people attended nationally.
The three main demands of the protest were to make childcare affordable for everybody, to introduce ring-fenced properly paid parental leave for both parents, and to make jobs more flexible. This is primarily to reduce the number of women who are unable to return to work after having a child.
The family-friendly march started outside Newcastle Civic Centre and made its way to Grey's Monument, accompanied by singing and chanting. There were then a series of speakers who took to the stage to share their experiences.
The CEO of Pregnant Then Screwed, Joeli Brearley, has also written an open letter to the Prime Minister asking for urgent action, stating that there will otherwise be a 'drastic increase in child poverty and families ending up on the streets. Beth Hazon, a Newcastle-based trustee for PTS, said "we want the new Prime Minister to be ambitious for women and the economy."
According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the UK is in the top 3 countries for most expensive childeare system in the developed world. As a result, many new mothers cannot afford to go back to work and are pushed out of the workforce.
Recent research conducted by Pregnant Then Screwed, a registered charity which launched on International Women's Day 2015, found that 48% of pregnant mothers will have to cut their maternity leave short due to financial hardship, and 43% of mothers are considering leaving their job as a direct result of childcare costs. Hazon warns that this will cause women to "walk into poverty in later life because they won't have their pension credits".
Kelly Rickard, a speaker at the event, was unable to return to her job as a drama teacher after realising her salary wouldn't cover the cost of childcare. The 41-year-old mother-of-two described the "crazy hustle" of then trying to find work that she could bring her child to. She hopes for a future where parental leave can be shared more fairly between the two parents.
Pixie was "left without any maternity pay" after being made redundant just six weeks before discovering she was pregnant. As her partner is self-employed, she said "to get paternity leave you have to jump through loads of hoops to access that money, and the amount of money isn't worth the time to complete the paperwork."
Ethan Leighton, a volunteer steward at the Newcastle protest, believes that "not enough focus is being put on the childcare issue" due to other current affairs taking the limelight. The 16-year-old wants more help to be available after growing up witnessing his single mum struggle with the costs of childcare for him and his sister.
As well as financial hardships, the charity campaigns against pregnancy and maternity discrimination in the workplace. In 2016, the Equality and Human Rights Commission found that three in four pregnant women and new mothers experience negative and discriminatory treatment at work each year.