A COALITION of early years organisations has called for Jersey to go further in supporting new parents – urging the government to extend current parental leave provisions “by at least an additional year”.
The Best Start Partnership, which includes charities, childcare providers and healthcare organisations, made the call in a submission to a Scrutiny panel currently reviewing the Island’s family-friendly legislation.
The Partnership said recent changes to the law – including increased parental leave and protections for breastfeeding – were a “positive move in the right direction” but that “further progress is required to fully align policy with research evidence regarding the critical importance of the first 1,001 days”.
“We advocate for extending parental leave by at least an additional year. This extension would enable bonding, secure attachment, and continued home-based care further into this crucial developmental window, supporting both maternal wellbeing and optimal outcomes for babies,” the group said.
They also said the option to stay at home should be financially accessible, stating: “We would recommend that parents be offered the genuine choice to remain at home to care for their babies for the first two years of life, supported by financial measures that make this option accessible and affordable.”
The submission comes as a Scrutiny sub-panel evaluates how family-friendly laws introduced in 2018 and 2020 – which expanded paid leave for parents and introduced new protections for breastfeeding – have impacted Island families.
The panel, chaired by Deputy Louise Doublet, is reviewing how Jersey compares to other jurisdictions and whether new or updated policies are needed.
The Partnership welcomed the introduction of neonatal leave and pay in England, Scotland and Wales, adding: “We would also support any further work to explore barriers faced by families, fathers, or parents with protected characteristics in accessing their rights.”
Explaining the drive for parental leave laws to go further, one of the charities involved in the partnership – the Jersey Child Care Trust – explained that the first two years of a child’s life were foundational.
JCCT executive director Fiona Vacher said: “The relationships that we form in our earliest two years have the greatest impact on our future lives – enabling parents and children to bond and form secure attachments means happier, healthier future selves.”
Deputy Doublet said she was “delighted” that the Partnership has contributed to the review and is currently “considering” all points raised.
“Their idea to extend leave by an additional year would mean that the current gap between parental leave and funded childcare would be filled,” she added.
“I think parents and families need to have real choice and the ability to decide on home care, child care, or a mixture of the two.”
The panel chair continued: “I’d really like to hear more from families on this. Whether they think the parental leave should be extended another year, or if they think the paid portion of the leave should be increased, or any other ideas families have for how to improve the early years.”
Social Security Minister Lyndsay Feltham, meanwhile, said she had “noted” the recent submission from the Partnership and said she would “carefully consider” the Scrutiny panel’s findings when they are published – adding that she was “committed” to supporting Islanders to raise young families.
Depity Feltham said: “Parents can have 52 weeks leave each so a baby could be at home with a parent for the first two years.
“Neonatal support, introduced last year, provides extra financial support to any parent already qualifying for parental benefits whose child requires neonatal hospital care. This is significant progress from the previous position.
She continued: “Parents who stay at home to care for a child under free nursery education age will now be able to use Home Responsibility Protection (HRP) credits to qualify for parental allowance for a future child.
“Previously, while HRP credits counted towards pension entitlements, they did not provide eligibility for parental allowance.”
A separate submission from the Jersey Child Care Trust said that families appeared to be taking fuller advantage of leave since the new laws were introduced, with children joining nurseries slightly later.
Business manager Kate Elston explained that while extended leave had brought benefits, it also posed operational and financial challenges for some childcare providers, particularly smaller ones.
The submission read: “While we support the intent of these reforms [including extended parental leave and accommodations for breastfeeding], we have observed some operational challenges, particularly around workforce planning and continuity of care for the children and families we support during extended leave periods.
“Nonetheless, we believe these are manageable with appropriate planning and reflect a broader commitment to family wellbeing.”
The Trust recommended that the government continue to monitor the impact of the reforms, run a communications campaign to raise awareness among families and employers, and offer support to nurseries to help them adapt to changing patterns of demand.
- The panel is currently inviting views via its Family Friendly Legislation Review Survey, which can be accessed at this link.
