I thank the Minister for that response, which covered in quite some detail many of the issues that have been raised. I also thank the hon. Members who made contributions today: the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon); the SNP shadow Minister, the hon. Member for Glasgow East (David Linden); and the Labour shadow Minister, my hon. Friend the Member for Ellesmere Port and Neston (Justin Madders).
The Government’s response on broader help for households during this cost of living crisis is clearly welcome, but I worry that speaking in such general terms somewhat neglects the very specific challenges that parents are facing at the moment. I could go back to all the statistics that we have looked at on the impact of the cost of living on parents, and on the challenges around the Government support. The Minister mentioned the headline figures, but the reality for parents that we are hearing—their experience of how anxious they are and how much they are struggling—does not match up to the big numbers that the Government cite.
I want to focus my closing remarks on those mothers and fathers whose struggles have made this debate necessary today. Society’s duty is to look after our next
generation—to protect and nourish them. Parliamentarians and Government in particular have a huge role to play in support of families to do just that. Mothers are crippled by stress, with rocketing prices and the isolation that people experience in society today. The way it is formed means that support is just not available to deal with such a level of crisis as in this acute period.
We have had a lot of talk about parental leave, pushing on paternity leave, but clearly that comes down to money. An awful lot of families cannot afford for the dad as well as the mum to take parental leave; the Minister spoke powerfully about that, and I hope that we see the Government take steps. There is also the absence of Sure Start centres in many localities, which used to provide some of that support for mothers who feel very isolated. We are finally seeing the rebirth, to some extent, of Sure Start through the family hubs, which are very welcome, but there has been that gap, and there is still a real gap.
Many mothers carry the burden on their own. That has been the case for some time, but they are now carrying it with the crushing anxiety of rising prices—I do not know about everyone else, but every time I go to the shops I am shocked by how much the products I buy every week have gone up. Given that isolation, we are seeing worsening maternal mental health: the statistics show that that is with us already. With the economic disenfranchisement and the deeply entrenched inequality, the impact on children of the deepening maternal mental health challenge is already evident.
One of the mums who spoke to me referred to the soaring costs as “always in my head”—constantly, every day, having to work out what to make for dinner and what she can buy from the shops. She says that it is never out of her head. She can already see the impact on her child, who knows now not to ask for anything until payday. That period when nothing can be bought is getting longer, not shorter, every month. Things are getting harder for families, not easier.
From my preparation for the debate, what has been hard is that for many families raising a child is no longer a source of joy and hope; it is a source of stress and anxiety. We cannot sustain that as a society. The call for statutory parental pay is just another addition to the clamour of calls for change, on top of our discussions about the costs of childcare and housing and, before that, about the food bank crisis, which has now become normalised. We are going from a bad situation to a worse one, and we need to turn that around.
I am encouraged by the Minister’s response, and I do not doubt her personal commitment to the issues, but I hope that the Government have listened today to what parents have said. My final word goes to our petition’s creator, Nicola Sheridan, who amid all her preparations during pregnancy for childbirth did the heroic thing of starting a petition to bring the issue to the House to be discussed and debated so that the voices of those struggling parents are heard. I hope she does not mind me saying this, but she did that because she knows that she is the fortunate one and that many are not in as fortunate a position as she is. She has done a truly heroic thing by bringing the issue before Parliament.
The Minister has been restricted in what she can say in response to the debate, but I hope she will take it away and give it to the various Departments that can truly make a difference to the many aspects of our
concerns, and that we will see change and see that support for families. The future of our children being born today is too important to leave to chance.
Question put and agreed to .
Resolved,
That this House has considered e-petition 617155, relating to the cost of living and parental leave and pay.
6.15 pm
Sitting adjourned.