While the public sector had a higher proportion of women (65%) to men than the private sector (44%), more women overall work in the private sector (10.96 million) than the public sector (4.98 million).
This equated to 2.5 million women in the private sector being entitled to receive only statutory maternity pay from their employer, as opposed to 150,000 in the public sector.
“The discrepancy in parental benefits provided by private and public sector employers may be down to the way in which the two sectors seek to attract and retain employees,” Bar Huberman, Brightmine's HR strategy and practice manager, told HR magazine.
“While the private sector could be seen to attract employees with elements like salary, public sector employers seem to offer advantages in other areas of the total reward package, such as those that benefit working parents.
“It may also be down to public sector workers benefitting from higher levels of unionisation and collective bargaining.”
Just 14% of working parents felt supported by their benefits package, research published in February by parenting platform REC Parenting showed. A fifth (20%) received specific parenting support in their benefits package.
Read more: Quarter of mothers do extra work to cover childcare cost, survey finds
Employees who received statutory maternity pay could be less productive as a result, explained Jane van Zyl, CEO of non-profit organisation Working Families.
Speaking to HR magazine, she said: “The inequality has significant implications for employees who only receive statutory maternity pay, as they may feel financially pressured to return to work earlier than they would prefer.”
“Returning to work before being fully ready can lead to reduced productivity, as the employee may not be fully rested, may struggle with concentration due to disrupted sleep, or may be emotionally torn between responsibilities at work and the desire to be at home with their new baby.”
Van Zyl called on more employers to improve their parental leave pay and support.
She continued: “To address this disparity, employers should consider offering enhanced maternity pay from the first day of employment. Some of our progressive employer members are offering an equal amount of leave and pay to either parent, including better-paid leave for fathers and partners.
“Employers can also engage directly with employees through employee networks or focus groups, to highlight areas where further support might be needed.
“Looking ahead, one of our key policy asks is to see parental leave more accessible for all new parents, regardless of whether they are an employee, a worker or self-employed.”
Read more: How the Five Hour Club makes work work, for parents
Brightmine's research found that the number of organisations offering enhanced maternity pay has increased by 10% since 2021. Around a quarter (26%) of employers provided the statutory minimum requirement in 2024 compared with 36% in 2021.
Mandy Garner, editor of workingmums.co.uk, suggested that more employers in the private sector could offer enhanced maternity leave to improve retention.
“At a time when many parts of the public sector are trying to retain staff, it makes a lot of sense to enhance maternity pay. But there is also a big argument for the private sector to follow suit if it wants to attract and retain female staff, given that statutory maternity pay is so low,” she told HR magazine.
Statutory maternity pay is currently 90% of employees’ salary for the first six weeks; and reduces to £184.03 a week for the following 33 weeks.
Garner continued: “Employers, particularly SMEs, may see enhancing maternity pay as unaffordable in the current climate, but it may work out cheaper in terms of retaining experienced staff and avoiding recruitment costs.
“The same is true for parental leave for dads. Enabling them to take leave will mean women feel more supported, potentially able to return to work more quickly and share the parental load more equally.”
Brightmine surveyed 460 organisations, representing 950,000 employees, in June 2024.
