Hello,
I am 6 months pregnant and we've just found out my husband has been made redundant. We're not sure he'll be able to quickly get a new role in this job market, and if he does, he won't be eligible for any paternity leave as he won't have been in a job long enough. We were previously planning to have 3 months of shared parental leave together at the start.
Our options are:
- He tries to get another job, with the knowledge that he will have the stress/exhaustion/focus of a new job around the time we have our baby. He would barely get time off with the baby. However, we are financially in a much better position with this option.
- He puts off the job hunt for now and we enjoy the first few months of the baby with him unemployed. Obviously in theory it would be lovely to share this experience and as a first time mum I'd be grateful for the support, but in practice, I'm not sure what it would actually be like? Would it be too full on to have 2 of us at home, sleep-deprived, in a small flat, just after lockdown? And obviously the financial implications are huge. We could manage, just, but it would be a stretch.
Without having any sense of what having a newborn is like, neither of us is sure what option is better! We want to have a secure financial set up for our little one, but we also want to make sure that my hubby is involved in the early weeks, and that we're not doing something that would put extra strain on us as a couple.
What would you do? Would you rather have the present partner, or the financial security? And for those who have had partners at home for an extended period of time, is it a bit stressful, or just a huge help?
I'm feeling very anxious so would be so grateful for any advice or opinions! Thanks everyone xx