Closed petition Make self-employed people eligible for statutory adoption pay

Closed on 4 January 2023

Make statutory adoption pay available to self-employed as well as employed adopters, just as maternity allowance is available for all birth parents (including the self-employed). Stop unfairly disadvantaging this small group, when introducing this pay would benefit children and society as a whole.

In a fair society, a parent should be able to take paid statutory leave to ensure their children can build a secure attachment. We believe excluding self-employed adopters from this is discriminatory. It may also discourage people from adopting, meaning that more children may remain in care. Paying statutory adoption pay will cost the government much less than the lifetime cost of keeping a child in care, and will support adopters to give children in care loving families.