Longer British maternity leave "sabotages careers"

LONDON (Reuters Life!) - Extending paid maternity leave in Britain to a year from nine months could damage women's careers, an equalities watchdog said this week.

The Equalities and Human Rights Commission said that extending the amount of time a woman can take off work after giving birth to each child could unintentionally make women of child-bearing age less attractive to employers.

The British system, which is already among the world's most generous, is set to be extended by the end of the current session of parliament. Fathers are currently allowed two weeks paternity leave.

Chief Executive Nicola Brewer said the change had entrenched the assumption that only mothers bring up children and called for a more flexible approach, more parental rights and choice.

"The thing I worry about is that the current legislation and regulations have had the unintended consequences of making women a less attractive prospect to employers," she told The Times newspaper ahead of a public consultation.

The commission's helpline received calls from women who had lost their jobs after becoming pregnant, she told The Times.

"There has been a sea-change on maternity leave and flexible work and we welcome that," Brewer said. "But the effect has been to reinforce some traditional patterns."

She told BBC radio: "We think that the focus should be on letting parents decide who takes parental leave after the first six months."

According to government figures, women of child-bearing age make up around one-third of the entire British workforce.