Mat pay - is this "good"??

[newmummy21]

Just wanting to gauge what's typical, I guess, as this is the first time I've been on mat leave so I have no idea what's normal.

I usually earn 2,600 net in my job. Currently on mat leave and have lost £800 a month so taking home only 1,800 whilst on mat leave. This is a significant loss to our household income and my partner is having to do a lot of overtime to make up the shortfall. We also had to save like mad during my pregnancy to cover this, so we didn't struggle.

I mentioned this to a friend recently and she said "my god that's amazing mat pay, you have no idea how lucky you are, I had next to nothing... " etc,

So... is losing £800 a month really "amazing" for mat pay??

Yes it really is amazing. So many people only get SMP

My workplace does 26 weeks full pay, 13 weeks at 90% and 13 weeks at no pay. I don’t know if you can average that over the whole period.

Unfortunately I had my DS abroad and had no such benefits

I would have no idea what anyone else gets and would have no idea about statutory allowance, just as I have no idea about other workplaces’ pension schemes. I don’t think it’s strange at all to not know this kind of stuff outside of your own experience, especially if you have been in the same job for a long time. The only time I’d compare would be when looking to change jobs. I don’t think it has any bearing on knowing the price of bread and milk.

I would have no idea what anyone else gets and would have no idea about statutory allowance, just as I have no idea about other workplaces’ pension schemes. I don’t think it’s strange at all to not know this kind of stuff outside of your own experience, especially if you have been in the same job for a long time. The only time I’d compare would be when looking to change jobs. I don’t think it has any bearing on knowing the price of bread and milk.

Thank you!! I did think I was being unfairly criticised for being "out of touch with reality". Surely our realities are the ones we are living? If we haven't had to find out other things outside of this and have not been exposed to it, why would be know? Just as I wouldn't expect anyone to know what my NHS maternity package entails unless I told them! 🤷‍♀️

[quote Tibtab]@newmummy21 that makes sense! You are better than my HR department 😂 I took the full 52 weeks and averaged it over the whole period.[/quote]
Haha I need to change career and work in HR then... 😂

Yeah I'm taking 39 weeks and have asked to average it out so I have equal payments. Much easier then you know where you're at each month!

@newmummy21
They don’t average the SMP only the OMP so I think your first couple of payslips will be different because if I remember SMP kicks in after 8 weeks.