Over a thousand mum's have taken to the streets of Leeds this morning in a Halloween themed protest that aims to highlight the 'horrific' treatment of mums in the UK.
Mothers and their families have taken to the streets this morning for a protest led by Pregnant Then Screwed to demonstrate the frightening lack of consideration mothers have been granted by the Government as they demand urgent intervention.
The ‘March of The Mummies’ protest is Halloween-themed as protesters will dress up in Halloween themed outfits to symbolise the "horror" treatment of working mothers.
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Crowds gathered outside Leeds Town Hall as mothers carrying babies and young children chanted while others stood further back, they were holding banners reading “The future won’t raise itself” and “Pregnant then screwed”.
The protest, in City Square, Leeds city centre, is the biggest protest of mums to ever take place in the UK; 11 regions are taking part. The demonstration will march across: London, Birmingham, Manchester, Bristol, Leeds, Cardiff, Glasgow, Newcastle, Norwich, Belfast and Exeter.
West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin, Author Vicki Broadbent (aka Honest Mum), Deputy Leader of the UK Women’s Equality Party, DR Hannah Barham-Brown, Associate Dean for Law and Police Studies at York St John’s University, Dr Ernestine Gheyoh Ndzi, and Dr Patricia Hamilton, a lecturer in the Sociology department at the University of York, are amongst those speaking at the event today.
The national protest is demanding reform on three key issues that are pushing mothers out of the workforce and into poverty:
Increased funding for the childcare sector to enable affordable, high quality childcare for all children
Ring-fenced and properly paid maternity and paternity leave
All jobs to be flexible by default
Joeli Brearley, Founder and CEO of Pregnant Then Screwed, said: "Mothers from all over the UK have come together today because enough is enough. We want urgent progress on women’s rights. It’s the 21st Century, yet 54,000 mothers are being pushed out of the workforce every year for simply daring to procreate.
"We have the second most expensive childcare in the OECD, the third worst ranking maternity benefit and the worst ranking paternity benefit in Europe. Data from the ONS shows that women of childbearing age are dropping like flies from the workforce. The childcare sector is in a mess; thousands of nurseries have collapsed this year alone. We have had enough."
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