Petition · past parliament

Government to extend those who are currently Maternity Leave due to Covid-19

Rejected 21 signatures

What the petition asks

Can the government extend our paid maternity leave to keep our vulnerable babies safer for longer at home whilst in this Covid-19 crises? Giving us further protection of paid leave without being forced back to work, worrying about the health, safety and childcare for our babies.
I’m wanting to raise a concern to the UK Government that many new Mothers are feeling at the moment whilst us Mothers are on Maternity leave with very young babies during the Covid-19 Crises.

Why it was rejected

There was already a petition about this issue. Duplicates are rejected so signatures collect in one place.

You may wish to sign this petition calling for the same action: Extend maternity leave by 3 months with pay in light of COVID-19

You can find out more about coronavirus and how you can protect yourself and others here:

www.gov.uk/coronavirus
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/

The Government has also created an online service to help you out what you can do if you’re struggling because of coronavirus: https://www.gov.uk/find-coronavirus-support

You can read NHS tips to help if you are worried about coronavirus here: https://www.nhs.uk/oneyou/every-mind-matters/coronavirus-covid-19-anxiety-tips

You can read impartial analysis of the Government response to coronavirus and policy developments here:
https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/coronavirus/

You may also be interested to know that because of the large number of petitions that have been started in relation to coronavirus, the Petitions Committee has been questioning the Government about its response to the coronavirus outbreak.
 
Find out more and watch the Committee put questions suggested by petitioners to Government Ministers and the Deputy Chief Medical Officer: https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/326/petitions-committee/news/145767/committee-question-deputy-chief-medical-officer-and-ministers-on-coronavirus-response/
 
Read letters asking further questions of Government Ministers: https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/326/petitions-committee/publications/3/correspondence/

Timeline

27 Mar 2020 Petition opened for signatures
24 Apr 2020 Rejected by the Petitions Committee

Key facts

Signatures 21
Status Rejected
Rejected 24 Apr 2020

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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.