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Original poster

Maternity Pay

38 replies

PurpleSock · 23/01/2020 21:23

Please forgive my naivety

Me and my partner have just begun discussing ttc and were looking into the financials of it however, I'm the higher earning and looking at statutory maternity pay, there's almost no way we could live off just that and his wage

I've looked through my companies policies and as far as I can see it's mostly just SMP i would get for the majority of Mat leave.

Is this typical? Curious as to what others got and whether we need to seriously consider putting this on hold for a while

Can someone break this down into idiot terms for me?

OP posts:
Smudge27 · 23/01/2020 23:07

SMP is pants. We had to save up prior to me going on to SMP and use the savings to make up the shortfall in what I was earning. Everyone I know has had to do the same.

peachypetite · 23/01/2020 23:11

You’ll probably have to save up a bit first in that case. I have a very generous policy where I work but it varies greatly.

pumpandthump · 23/01/2020 23:12

SMP is rubbish but very common in most private companies and in the public sector if you've not worked there for 12 months.

We worked out my financial needs for the 12 months I wanted to be off, minus the amount I'd get in SMP and saved up most of that pre TTC. It may take months to conceive, or you may hit it first time, so if we tell take more than 7 months to save up what you need, hold off on the baby making.

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about these subjects:

Antenatal & postnatal Employment advice Families Maternity leave
Chocolateandchats · 23/01/2020 23:13

I work for the council and had 12 weeks of 90% pay and then SMP, at that point we were screwed and I’m the lower earner. It’s pretty dire unfortunately.

NemophilistRebel · 23/01/2020 23:15

We had to save before maternity leave

It’s a short time in the grand scheme of things and amazing how quickly you become comfortable again after you go back to work, even part time

Smilebehappy123 · 23/01/2020 23:16

Iv taken a full year on mat leave due back in March , we saved to be honest to cover the expense. we had the most expensive year with a wedding also but just having a few thousand saved in the bank really helped us especially when going from half pay to stat pay , I wouldnt stop.TTC however as soon as you get pregnant them 9 months I would start putting cash aside
We added a little bit to the credit card also , ( about a grand ) but will start paying that back once I return
Defo save up , start saving now

AutumnGlitterBall · 23/01/2020 23:17

I work for the public sector and got 18 weeks full pay and 21 at SMP. Our household income has almost halved because of it. We planned for it by saving from when I went back to work after the first baby.

worriedmama1980 · 23/01/2020 23:38

We started saving what our childcare fees would be when we were both working and a little bit extra once we started thinking about ttc and through the pregnancy. It meant we got used to living on that budget, and built up a buffer for when I was on leave.

BriefDisaster · 24/01/2020 05:44

I am a civil servant so got 6 months full pay then 3 months stat mat pay.

We saved up beforehand to get through the stat mat months and then an unpaid month also. That was with my second, with the first I had to go back at six months.

Most people I know just had stat mat and had to save.

Do yourself a favour and look at childcare costs in your area too so that isn't a shock when you have a baby.

whatswithtodaytoday · 24/01/2020 05:49

We saved before starting trying. I think most people do, unless it's a super pregnancy or you're very well off.

That's a really good idea from a pp to save the cost of childcare so you get used to it.

GiveHerHellFromUs · 24/01/2020 05:52

Yeah you basically get about £650pm.

Depending on your earnings you may also be entitled to child benefit once baby is here which is about £80pm.

doublebarrellednurse · 24/01/2020 05:53

Yep I'm about to go onto SMP. It sucks. We've saved about £5k to help float us and it'll be tight.

GrumpySausage · 24/01/2020 05:59

My company is very generous and we get six months full pay, followed by 3 months half, then statutory. It definitely made the decision to have children easier.

A lot of my friends saved before going on maternity so they had a buffer.

CalleighDoodle · 24/01/2020 06:07

I saved a few thousand to plug the gap.

icklekid · 24/01/2020 06:07

Saving before and working out how long you can have off/consider splitting paternity leave? I only had 9 months off with my first and slightly less with my second due to holidays and premature baby!

Scarsthelot · 24/01/2020 06:11

My company is very generous and we get six months full pay, followed by 3 months half, then statutory. It definitely made the decision to have children easier.

You only get smp for 9 months, so in this case you would get nothing after the period of half pay.

Op, most people have to save to make up the shortfall. Or take shared parental leave or both. So you go back at a certain time and your husband takes time off and uses the rest of your leave.

That may help or mean you have to save less for mat leave period

OhWellThatsJustGreat · 24/01/2020 06:11

We worked out how much money we'd 'lose' with me being on maternity leave and saved the equivalent while ttc and while I was pregnant. It has meant I've been able to have 10 months off, but also we've found we can afford to live on less, meaning I'll be returning to work part time, not full which makes childcare so much easier.

EnglishRain · 24/01/2020 06:22

I'm in the NHS and will get 8 weeks full pay, 18 weeks half pay + SMP and then 13 weeks SMP. We earn well between us and so our mortgage and bills are chunky, meaning we still need to save before I go in July.

soundsystem · 24/01/2020 06:26

Yep, as others have said, it's crap! We also saved up to cover the shortfall for the months I was off.

IceCreamAndCandyfloss · 24/01/2020 07:29

Whilst it might be low compared so some salaries, nine months SMP is very generous in reality compared to other countries.

We saved to cover the difference in salary and added extra as there’s a lot of time to fill during the day and I spent far more being off work than at work.

peachypetite · 24/01/2020 07:57

I do feel lucky reading a lot of these. I have 20 weeks at full pay which is very good. However I used to work at companies with crap maternity policies so about 18 months ago I decided to move into a new sector. Where I work now not only has good maternity pay but it’s very flexible and family friendly in terms of work life balance which will be important once maternity is over.

wintertime6 · 24/01/2020 08:59

I only had SMP for both of my maternity leaves. I topped up my savings as much as I could beforehand and used that for bigger spends such as car tax and insurance etc throughout the year. I found it wasn't as bad as I was expecting it to be, as we definitely weren't spending as much. Not going out for meals, the odd night away somewhere etc added up and meant we weren't spending as much as we did previously.

You also have to remember that this will last longer than just your maternity leave. Now that we have 2 children, I've changed roles and stepped down from a higher management role. I've also changed to part time so my salary is now less than half what it was before. Two children in nursery costs more than our mortgage. So I'd say that we're probably worse off financially now than we were when I was on maternity leave. But we're comfortable and it doesn't really feel like a struggle, and of course childcare costs won't be so high forever.

Original poster
PurpleSock · 24/01/2020 19:21

Thank you all for your replies! Have double checked the policy and I get 90% pay for the first 6 weeks and then SMP for up to 39 weeks which really sucks!

Looks like we'll have to start saving and look for ways for my partner to increase his earnings. Splitting my leave with him may well be the way to go for us as otherwise we'll be bringing in over £1000 less each month which is a LOT (to us anyway) over 9 months!

OP posts:
ClappyFlappy · 24/01/2020 19:25

The 6 weeks is also called SMP. The rate is different and drops to the rate set by the gov for the next 33 weeks. Pay is only for 39 weeks in total.

You’re not in any different a position to the vast majority of other people, you’ll manage just as theY do.

ClappyFlappy · 24/01/2020 19:27

You also might get tax rebates depending on timing in the first couple of months. You’ll maybe be entitled to child benefit as well. You can maybe do the odd keeping in touch day as well. Mat leave itself doesn’t have to be hugely expensive. You’ll be fine.