Options after maternity leave!

[Louise2424]

Hi everyone!

I had my first child in January this year and like a lot of people I assumed that myself and my husband would be in a stable enough financial position to support us as we were jointly earning around £60k.

Unfortunately my employer did not offer me anything over statutory maternity pay which is ending in September and I am now starting to panic as I don't know how we are going to manage.
We do have savings but I am trying to avoid dipping into those as want to try and keep for emergencies!

Where I am confused is my options after my maternity pay ends...
I used to work full time but as I don't have any "low cost" child care such as family or friends, I don't actually know how I will be able to work full stop!

My previos job was office based and therefore is only normal daytime working hours. Even if my employer was to offer me part time hours I wouldn't be able to work through the day as I obviously look after my little one. Will I initially be able to get JSA as I can no longer do that job, or does the state class it as me voluntarily leaving??
If so, how long can I claim for and am I allowed to only consider jobs which fit my circumstances (e.g evening hours when daddy can be on duty?)
My husband currently earns approx. £24k.

I only need to earn around £800 per month in order to meet the bills... does anyone have any ideas of how I can earn this while looking after a 3 month old?? I have wracked my brain but come up empty!
I don't really have any craft skills to start a little business and I even thought of doing an ironing service but I have very limited room at home and only a small vehicle :-(

Any advice would be extremely welcome!!!

[scurryfunge]

You could try working for as a career with an agency. You can pretty much choose your hours so you could do evening only or weekends (if that is when partner is off ). 24 hours a week would get you the amount you want.

[Agent13]

So I’m confused. Are you going back to work? Get a nursery or childminder. If you can jointly earn £60k then that’s plenty isn’t it? We had a child with much less coming in and no local family for childcare and it’s been fine!

[Twickerhun]

I’m confused too. Are you looking fir extra work whilst you take a years leave from your normal job?
Look for childminder and go back to your normal job? It’s expensive but should be just manageable

[ememem84]

You say previous employer, I take it you’re not going back there?

Can you not find a nursery or childminder to look after baby once you go back?

[LadyLapsang]

So, you have an office job that pays you 36K PA, you want to resign and claim benefits? My advice would we to do what the vast majority of people do, find good childcare, pay for it out of you and your DH's earnings and return to work, either full time, or part time, if your employer is happy and you can make it work financially. If you claim benefits, the DWP will write to your employer to find out how your job ended, when they find out you resigned, you will likely be sanctioned (not be paid benefits). If you really want to play tag team, working while your DH looks after the baby, I would start applying for part-time suitable jobs now; if you haven't managed to find one in the next five months (when you would be due to return in September), it would be pretty indicative that you should give serious thought to not making yourself voluntarily unemployed.

[Louise2424]

Sorry I probably wasn't clear enough with my question.... I want to look after my child full time but wasn't sure if this would be "allowed" by the state in terms of searching for a job that only covers evening hours for example. It seems logical to me that you have a child as you want to look after them but I didn't know whether the state viewed it that way and gave you the right to claim JSA while looking for a job that fits around this. I guess not.

I don't want my child being looked after by a childminder or nursery at such a young age. I do understand everybody's different but that's just my personal choice. I know of a lot of people who have an amazing standards of living on benefits and they also get to look after their kids 24 hours a day. I personally wouldn't want to live off benefits either however I had assumed that since I've contributed to the state my whole life I may be entitled to JSA for a short time while looking for a job which fits around parenting.

Any ideas of ways to make money from home? As mentioned I don't need to earn a huge amount, around £800-1000 pet month (after tax).

Thanks again

[3stonedown]

I don't know a whole lot about the welfare system but I am confident that is not what JSA is for. There are entitlement calculators online you can look at but the state won't help you look for a that kind of job when you have a full time job you could go back to.

Your child will be 9 months by the time your maternity pay stops so can't they go into childcare then?

[charityhallet]

Well lots of people would like to look after their kids but don't have that option and earn money to keep a roof over their heads and food on the table. I think you might have to get over your feelings about childminder and nurseries pdq! And your views about those on benefits might have been correct 10+ years ago, but a life on benefits now is very tough.

If you are the higher earner, it would make sense for your husband to stay at home, not you.

And sorry, you're not eligible for JSA!

[RatherBeRiding]

This might sound harsh but benefits are there to support those in genuine need, not people who choose to give up a perfectly well paid job in order to be a SAHM.

As you would be considered to have resigned voluntarily I doubt you would be eligible for JSA straight away -
"You can claim Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) as soon as you know the date you’re stopping work. You’ll need to show you had a good reason for resigning, or you might not get any money for around 3 months. This is called a sanction."

The above is taken from the Citizens Advice website.

You could either budget for you to give up your job completely or pay for childcare (out of joint earnings of £60K I don't see a problem) for you to return to work either full time (hard I know with a young child but a lot of parents have no choice) or negotiate with your employer for part-time hours.

[GreenStars]

Bloody hell. Depending on where you live surely £36k is enough to cover childcare and a few bills?
As for not knowing what your employers policy on maternity pay is until you had the baby, that seems a bit daft not to have looked into it while you were pregnant to help you budget.
Babies go to nursery younger than nine months, I'm sure they would adapt just fine.

[3stonedown]

Yes I am a little baffled at how you didn't know your employers maternity policy.

Have a look into matched betting to earn extra if you need it. There are people who earn £800+ doing it

[BalloonFlowers]

You have another 6 months until your statuary maternity ends. Use that time to look for a job that fits around your partners hours.
If you find a job, brilliant. If you can survive on yoyr partners earnings, brilliant. Otherwise, if going back to work us the only way to make ends meet, unfortunately that is what you need to do.

[NerrSnerr]

Your options are to survive on your partner’s income, find a job to fit around your partner’s job or return to work.

Many of us would love to be SAHP but it’s not viable for everyone. I don’t think people should get benefits if they leave a job in these circumstances.

[Parker231]

If you want to claim Jobseeker’s Allowance you will need to be actively seeking work, attend appointments at the JSA office, provide evidence of job applications you have made, attend interviews etc

[CarpetMothsFuckOff]

Why did you only look into your employer's maternity policy when you got pregnant?

Also as you say your mat pay ends in September I assume your baby is very young now. See how you feel in a few months. I was adamant I wasn't going to go back to work as couldn't bear to leave DS. I decided to try it for a couple of months anyway but I cried buckets before I went back. Anyway long story short I absolutely love it. Being at home all day with a young baby is nothing like being at home all day with a rampaging toddler.

I work 3 days a week and DS is in nursery. It takes up most of my salary (but all our money is pooled anyway) but I don't care - best of both worlds for both DS and me, plus its only temporary. He gets his 15 free hours in a year so our bill will half then.

[NapQueen]

Use savings to cover whilst on SMP and then go back to work in September when it runs out and look for chidlcare then.

[GummyGoddess]

What was your original plan? You said you assumed it would be fine but that only covered maternity leave. There aren't really any jobs you can do while full time watching your child as they would still take your attention off of them. Even if you became a childminder you would pay your child less attention as you would be looking after another one and wouldn't earn £800 after tax anyway. You could do shift work and do nights but you would be shattered during the day.

You must have considered what you would do after you had your child?

I work 4 hours a day while dc1 is in nursery. It takes most of my pay to cover nursery but we will be in a better position in a few years if I keep working. Dc loves nursery and is ecstatically happy to go in, gives the staff cuddles, plays with paint and a million other toys. He gets upset when picked up sometimes as he doesn't want to leave!

[PaulDacreRimsGeese]

If your husband is earning 24k and your combined income is 36k, that means you're the higher earner and it would make more sense for him to be the one at home not you. Also, if you're clear you're not going to use childcare but you want to maximise the leave available, it would be worth you going back to work when maternity pay ends and him taking the final 13 unpaid weeks.

If you're determined it's going to be you who gives up, or actually even if you're not and your DH does, why does the work have to be from home? One of you could do the 9-5 during the week then the other do something else at weekend or in the evenings.

Also, do you think your employer is likely to offer part time, and what about DHs? It might be possible to do 2.5 days each or whatever.

[Figgygal]

Possibly should have thought of all this before planning to have a baby?

Life is expensive benefits are not just handed out to people who want to not work without means of doing so and without need.