Feel guilty we probably can’t afford for me to take the unpaid part of maternity leave

[njmummy]

Just that, not sure why I’m posting maybe for solidarity or to hear others experiences

Realistically we can only afford for me to be off work for 9 months + 5 weeks of annual leave, so I’ll be going back when our baby is about 10 months. In my organisation most people have been taking a year, but our mortgage is just so high with the new rate that we’d be absolutely skint and able to meet the bills and nothing else left over if I took the unpaid time at the end up to 12 months. The good news is we can afford for me to return 4 days a week, possibly even 3.5 so I will have a day off in the week with baby.

Is there a huge difference between leaving a 10 month old and a 12 month old in childcare? Someone told me that I’d never feel ready to leave them, which is probably true, even if I had two years off!

@njmummy this is not a perfect solution but might give you an option to consider.

You potentially have 10 KIT days but if you opt for SPL you potentially get 20 SPLIT days on top. You could use theses days to effectively “work” 2 days during your unpaid period. This would still give you 3 days + weekend with your DC.

Remember you should pay less Tax because you haven’t used up all your personal allowance making the 2 days pay be worth more in your hand.

If you then reduce to 4 days a week rather than taking your annual leave as whole weeks again take 2 days leave and work 2 days. You will be getting 4 days pay but only working 2 days for c10 weeks. Is it better to do 5 weeks at home or 10 weeks working 2 days?

DD started childcare at 9 months and DS at just shy of a year- haven’t noticed any difference, to be honest! Both times I was upset and felt like it was too early, but got used to it once I got back in the swing of things.

Don't feel guilty.

When I had mine max time was 6 months. Less if you had any time off before. She was fine

Use credit cards? That's how many of us made it through the unpaid portion...

Look at the tax implications before you decide how many days to do. I went back 3 days to keep a greater % of wage than I would have at 4 days. Back up to 4 days now and have won 2x promotions since having DC1 so pt doesn't have to mean career/earnings deadending.