Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 8 September 2021 to Question 42053 on Maternity Allowance, and with reference to Table 7 of the quarterly Maternity Allowance statistics published by her Department on 15 February 2022, if she will make an assessment of the reasons for the 45 per cent fall in the number of grants of Maternity Allowance to employed women between the four quarters ending on 31 May 2016, during which period there were 50,100 grants, and the four quarters ending on 31 August 2021, in which there were 27,480 grants.

Fewer Maternity Allowance claims were started in the year up to 31 August 2021, compared to the year up to 31 May 2016. This decrease is particularly evident in claims by employed women. A likely contributor to this is the decrease in the UK’s total fertility rate. This has fallen year-on-year from 1.92 in 2012, to 1.56 in 2020. Population projections continue to anticipate a decrease in 2021 and 2022.

National population projections, fertility assumptions: 2020-based interim - Office for National Statistics [Figure 2]

We will continue to monitor fertility rates, as well as changes in the employment status and income of the female population over time, which impact on the number of MA claims.