Does anyone know much about maternity allowance??

[Louisa111]

I'm self-employed but only work part-time as I have a toddler to look after. I'm currently pregnant again and looking into my options... It looks like I can claim
Maternity allowance which would be great but because I'm below the tax threshold I'm not legible to pay class 2 national insurance contributions... Does this mean I can't claim?? I'd need to live on something surely?? Xx

[LifeHandsYouLemons]

I had to apply for maternity allowance due to not being in employment for over 6 months or something like that... id recently started new employment whilst pregnant, and because id had previous employment within their time scale, I was entitled to something. They must be able to support you and offer something! are you claiming any benefits part time as there is also the maternity grant.

within the maternity allowance application there is a self employed part which you would need to fill out, they will judge your MA payment on how much you currently get paid self employed, might not be alot, might be more than expected.

Here's whats on the Gov website has to say with regards to self employment:
self-employed and pay Class 2 National Insurance (including Voluntary National Insurance) for at least 13 of the 66 weeks before your baby’s due - the amount of Maternity Allowance you get depends on how much Class 2 National Insurance you’ve paid.

Louisa if you havent paid Class 2 i think your contacted and asked to make an early payment...
The amount you can get depends on your eligibility.

You could get either:

£139.58 a week or 90% of your average weekly earnings (whichever is less) for up to 39 weeks
£27 a week for up to 14 weeks
Maternity Allowance is paid every 2 or 4 weeks.

You can claim Maternity Allowance once you’ve been pregnant for 26 weeks. Payments can start 11 weeks before your baby is due.

Either way, there are ways around it, this day and age you wont be left with nothing and you'll be supported some way or another! :)

[Quodlibet]

I think you can opt in to paying class 2 NI, which could raise your entitlement to MA. It might be worth your while paying full NI for a period to increase the MA this makes you eligible for.

[Louisa111]

Thanx guys, not claiming any other benefits as dh works as well. It won't be the end of the world if I don't get anything but it would be nice to get something just to help
Out a bit with food and bills... Will look into it a bit more x