A charity is taking the Government to court today claiming that it discriminates against women have have given birth.
Pregnant then Screwed will be in the High Court taking action against the Government
for discriminating against women in the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS).
SEISS was introduced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in April 2020, to support
self-employed workers whose trade has been adversely affected by Covid19. The eligibility
conditions and calculation method chosen by the Chancellor has a discriminatory effect on
women as it does not exempt periods of maternity leave.
The number of women affected is significant: currently calculated at approximately 75,000. Pregnant Then Screwed is asking the Chancellor to take immediate steps to change the SEISS so that time taken for maternity leaveis discounted when average earnings are calculated.
They started legal proceedings after the Chancellor was asked why he had
not exempted periods of maternity leave from the self-employed grant calculations. His
response was that: ‘’for all sorts of reasons people have ups and down and variations in their earnings, whether through maternity, ill health or others.’’
The charity then wrote a pre-action protocol letter to the Chancellor and the response from their legal team correlated maternity leave to a sabbatical.
Pregnant Then Screwed felt it had no choice but to start legal proceedings.
Joeli Brearley, CEO and founder of Pregnant Then Screwed explains:
“The government has had 9 months to amend this scheme so that it doesn’t discriminate against women; but they have chosen not to.We’ve had heartbreaking messages from so many women. For some this drop in income has left them and their young family in desperate poverty; while their male colleagues re in receipt of the full benefit”
Brearley adds:
“But this isn’t just about the 75,000 vulnerable new mothers who have received a
payment that is well below what they should have received. It is about the critical importance of maternity leave and ensuring that as a society we value it. Giving birth and caring for the next generation, particularly in a baby’s first year of life, is work; it is mentally and physically exhausting work. Not only that, but ensuring the next generation survives and thrives is surely the most important job there is. For maternity leave to be dismissed as the same as being sick or taking a sabbatical is not only insulting, but it sends out a very dangerous message about how this government views mothers and the integral role we play in a well-functioning society.
This court case is about defending women’s rights and showing the government that they
cannot ride roughshod over the Equality Act.’
