Families get Lib Dem cash pledge

The Lib Dems say they will offer more nursery places

New mothers would get a minimum £170 a week maternity pay for six months, under Liberal Democrat plans.

The guarantee was part of a mini-manifesto for families launched by party leader Charles Kennedy during a visit to Southampton.

He also promised to cut class sizes, increase nursery care and build hundreds of children's centres.

Both the Conservatives and Labour are pledging a £50 tax break to families who pay for child care.

Our manifesto for families sets out real solutions to the problems that families face every day Charles Kennedy

Launching the package of measures, Mr Kennedy said: "Last week the Archbishop of Canterbury called for 'a programme for fuller and better family support, fuller and better care for our children throughout society'.

"Our manifesto for families sets out just such a programme.

"It recognises that in the 21st century the modern British family comes in many shapes and sizes. We are no longer a nation that has one universal family structure."

Mr Kennedy, who is soon to become a father himself, said the manifesto set out "real solutions to the problems that families face every day".

The plans for a minimum maternity income guarantee for a first-time mother would cost £700m and last for the first six months.

'Short-term thinking'

But Labour Chief Secretary to the Treasury Paul Boateng said the Lib Dems' pledges rang hollow.

Under the government initiative, parents are given £250 vouchers to invest on behalf of their children until they reach 16.

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Family issues

Theresa May, shadow spokesman on families, said the Tories were offering all mothers a better deal - not just those having their first child.

"What is fair about the first-time only policy?" she said.

"Conservative proposals offer a choice of up to nine months' leave, and up to £169 a week, for every child, not just the first."

Since April this year, statutory maternity pay is paid at £106 a week for 26 weeks.

Labour has already said it plans to extend this to the first nine months and to increase payments to 12 months over the course of the next Parliament.

Fathers would be able to claim the money for some of that time, Labour says.