Northern Ireland offers two weeks paid miscarriage leave
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- Northern Ireland introduced the UK's first paid miscarriage leave, granting two weeks of statutory pay to a woman and her partner after a loss at any stage of pregnancy.
- The leave is paid at the statutory rate of just over £194 per week, or 90 % of weekly earnings if that is lower, and can be taken as one continuous week or two separate weeks within 56 weeks of the miscarriage.
- Employers are not required to see medical evidence; employees only need to inform their employer of the miscarriage to qualify.
- The devolved government estimates the scheme will cost £3.5 million per year and applies to all employees from their first day of work.
- The rest of the UK continues to offer only two weeks of paid bereavement leave after a stillbirth at 24 weeks, while Westminster plans to introduce a minimum of one week unpaid miscarriage leave across England, Scotland and Wales in 2027.
- Personal accounts from Erin Sharkey, Selina Casey, Megan Crowe and Victoria Wylie illustrate how the leave validates grief, supports couples, and can reduce trauma and relationship strain.
Why it matters: The new entitlement directly benefits roughly 9,000 Northern Irish employees who experience miscarriage each year, giving them statutory pay and time to grieve, while the £3.5 million annual cost falls on the devolved government; it also highlights the disparity with the rest of the UK, where only unpaid leave is planned for 2027.
