People who marry to have kids are ten times more likely to stay together than cohabiting couples by the time their children are 16, so screamed the tabloids last week. In 1992 70% of married couples were still together when their kids reached that coming of age milestone, that rising to 75% in 2006, yet only 36% of unmarried couples stay together when their kid reach the same age of 16? We know that the majority of couples who try living together first before they marry usually split before the big day. The most extraordinary statistic of all on the decline of marriage is that nearly 60% of women that became pregnant under New Labour had 'never' cohabited with the father  Read the complete review

This week, the EU has announced plans to increase minimum paid maternity leave to 20 weeks on full pay. This has been met with the usual howls of outrage, both from those who resent the EU's heavy-handed approach to standardisation and from business owners who fear that they will have to foot the bill. But how much of this is justified? Is there actually a good reason why this is a bad idea, or should we be welcoming the new proposals? First, let's have a look at the facts. Currently, Statutory Maternity Pay is six weeks at the higher rate (90% of full pay) followed by 33 weeks at the lower rate (£123 weekly for the tax year 09/10), with a further ...  Read the complete review

The moment I found out I was pregnant with my first baby I started looking into my maternity entitlements. I work for a small company so discovered that our maternity leave was the minimum that we had to be awarded by law. However some companies are more generous than this, so always make sure you check this with your HR department. The current statutory maternity leave is that every Mother is entitled to take a full year off work when you have a baby. However you are paid 90% of your wage for the first six weeks and then you are paid for upto 39 weeks at statutory maternity pay which is currently £117.18 per week (this rises to £123.06 from the 5th April ...  Read the complete review

Eek! It's a baby. It writhes, it cries, it smells funny... I've changed my mind! Ok - so these are fairly stereotypical musings on your first few seconds as a new dad when the nurse hands you the bundle of blankets containing your small and wrinkly offspring. I was prepared for the birth - especially as it was 2 weeks late, but not the method of arrival. The sprog clearly has its Mum's sense of direction and pottered about aimlessly until deciding to head for the largest exit. I shall spare you all the emotional wibble now, it'll only embarrass me and other dads who need to pretend they coped fine, but in reality had to choke back the tears. ...  Read the complete review

Having recently waved a colleague off on the start of her maternity leave, I couldn't help the feelings of envy and memories of my own maternity leave, having returned to work on a part-time basis last July. With both of my boys, I took as much maternity leave as I was legally able to and didn't regret a moment of it. In the unlikely event that I have any more children (sigh!) I would again take the maximum leave that I could. If you're thinking about maternity leave and aren't sure about how long to have off, I'd say have as much time off as you can afford - and then a little bit longer! When my oldest son was born in 2002, maternity entitlements weren't as ...  Read the complete review