Petition · past parliament
Make statutory adoption leave available for the self employed.
Rejected
14 signatures
What the petition asks
Statutory adoption pay and leave is not available to those who are self employed however statutory maternity leave and pay is. This is discriminatory against those willing and wanting to give the best start to an adopted child by being at home to nurture, care and develop a bond with their child.
A self employed parent can receive statutory maternity leave and pay. If for whatever reason they have chosen to adopt a child this self employed parent has no rights to adoption pay and leave.
By leaving self employed adoptive parents to self fund and not work over this leave, it places another barrier to the adoption process.
A prospective adopter will have a strengthened application if they can show how one parent can commit to adoption leave.
By leaving self employed adoptive parents to self fund and not work over this leave, it places another barrier to the adoption process.
A prospective adopter will have a strengthened application if they can show how one parent can commit to adoption leave.
Why it was rejected
It was not clear what the petition asked the UK Government or Parliament to do.
We can't accept your petition because we aren't sure exactly what you want the UK Government or Parliament to do.
It's not the case that a self-employed parent can receive statutory maternity leave or maternity pay. You can find out more here:
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/work/rights-at-work/parental-rights/maternity-leave-what-youre-entitled-to-and-how-to-get-it/
It is the case that a self-employed parent may be able to claim maternity allowance, details of which can be found here:
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/work/rights-at-work/parental-rights/maternity-pay-what-youre-entitled-to/
Maternity allowance is not available to a person who adopts, although local authorities may choose to pay it on a discretionary basis and subject to a means test as set out in the answer to a parliamentary question below:
https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2018-04-17/136096/
You could start a new petition calling for maternity allowance to be made available to all people who adopt if that is something you would like to see happen.
It's not the case that a self-employed parent can receive statutory maternity leave or maternity pay. You can find out more here:
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/work/rights-at-work/parental-rights/maternity-leave-what-youre-entitled-to-and-how-to-get-it/
It is the case that a self-employed parent may be able to claim maternity allowance, details of which can be found here:
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/work/rights-at-work/parental-rights/maternity-pay-what-youre-entitled-to/
Maternity allowance is not available to a person who adopts, although local authorities may choose to pay it on a discretionary basis and subject to a means test as set out in the answer to a parliamentary question below:
https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2018-04-17/136096/
You could start a new petition calling for maternity allowance to be made available to all people who adopt if that is something you would like to see happen.
Timeline
| 14 May 2019 | Petition opened for signatures |
| 19 Jun 2019 | Rejected by the Petitions Committee |
Key facts
Signatures
14
Status
Rejected
Rejected
19 Jun 2019
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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.