Parents 'shouldn't face choice between supporting sick kids or keeping jobs'
Parents are being failed because of a lack of support, ministers have been warned
TL;DR
- Children's Commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza calls for 12 weeks of paid parental leave for parents of seriously ill children.
- The proposed "Hugh's Law" aims to prevent parents from choosing between their job and caring for their child.
- Recent analysis indicates over 260,000 children born after 2008 have had hospital stays of three weeks or more.
- Children from deprived areas and ethnic minority backgrounds are more likely to experience long hospital stays.
- Campaigners, including the parents of Hugh Menai-Davis, advocate for financial support and employment rights for these families.
- The government is reviewing employment rights for unpaid carers and considering ways to strengthen support for families facing serious childhood illness.