The Liberal Democrats have pledged to give new mothers £170 a week for the duration of their statutory maternity leave.
Lib Dem leader Charles Kennedy said yesterday that following the birth of their first child, women would receive £4,420 over 26 weeks - about the same amount as taken home by someone on minimum wage working 35 hours a week.
Under the current set-up women receive 90% of their salary for the first six weeks of maternity leave, followed by £102 a week for the remaining 20 weeks.
The new proposals would give parents the option of which payment system to adopt.
"We are proposing a radical reform of maternity pay provision for the first born child: a reform which will particularly benefit women on low-incomes," said Kennedy yesterday.
"Our Maternity Income Guarantee forms a solid base for working women to plan their first baby's first months. It will help to prevent this most exciting of times for new parents being marred by the financial worry that can so often accompany it."
Last year, the government announced that maternity leave would be extended to nine months - with another three month extension following later - and that leave would be transferable between new mothers and fathers.
The plans, confirmed by Gordon Brown in his pre-Budget statement, stirred up controversy among business owners who say they would struggle to replace people for such a long period of time.
Tim Randles, head of employment at Laytons solicitors said: "Where problems arise is when firms have to recruit someone to fill the position on a temporary basis to cover for the person on maternity leave. As the length of leave is increased, the need for some smaller businesses to find someone to cover will become more acute.
"The government needs to help businesses as well as expectant mums. It wouldn’t take a huge amount to help small businesses overcome the problem or even back recruitment agencies to step in and specialise in the area.”
