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??

The nursery costs seems fair - we pay £718ish per calendar month for 4 day week - that's with the 20% taken off.

It's £51 a day here (East Mids), so £884pcm for a 4 day place before the 20%.

@NavigatingAdolescence

She did say a lot of people don't realise that NHS pays occupational mat pay on top of SMP, which makes it more.

Not for the full pay weeks because you can’t be better off on maternity than in work.

But I’m only a NHS HR director. What do I know?

I'm not better off! I'm losing £800?!

@Thefaceofboe

Have you properly looked into this nursery? Sounds VERY cheap and to give you random days off without having to pay doesn’t sit right with me. They still have to pay their staff so they really wouldn’t benefit from this, hence why it’s not the norm in nurseries.

Yes, I have. I have colleagues who also use it.

To throw in an employer's perspective here - I'd love to pay our mat leave staff more than SMP, but we just can't afford to.

We have to hire in temporary cover to cover mat leave, which is often more expensive than the person they're covering, plus we don't get the whole of the maternity pay reimbursed to us. If we were to pay someone full wages, or extend the 90% pay longer, we'd end up paying for two people to do one job. In bigger businesses this is easier to swallow, but the smaller the business the bigger the proportional impact this has.

Unfortunately SMP, while it's a lot better than some countries, isn't great and does leave smaller businesses in an awkward position.

This takes us off on a tangent, but the effect of this is what leads some businesses from being reluctant to hire women of child-bearing age (not that I'm one of them - we've hired 4 new staff members in the last year and 3 of them are women of child bearing age! I just can only hope they don't all end up having kids at the same time!)

I got about £140 a week as I'm self employed. That was a reduction of approx £700 a week for me.

How did we manage? I went back to work after 7 weeks and 10 weeks the 2nd time round. Proper sucked. I had 2 csections as well! 😩

Upside to being SE you get to choose your hours and don't have to ask anyone's permission to change hours or take time off.

Have you properly looked into this nursery? Sounds VERY cheap and to give you random days off without having to pay doesn’t sit right with me. They still have to pay their staff so they really wouldn’t benefit from this, hence why it’s not the norm in nurseries.

Yes, I have. I have colleagues who also use it.

Fair enough then, sounds like a really good deal! I find it so hard to grasp when a full time nursery place where I am is £72 a day for the baby room I’m not due till October and already looking forward to them starting school

I got 90% of my wages for 6 weeks, 12 weeks at 50% wages plus SMP, and then statutory SMP for the rest. I lost around £900 a month when on SMP and poor DH had to cover all shortfalls.

@WheresMySnackPack

I'm sure you're very aware that most people on gov mat take a lot less than you but you wanted to be goady 🥱.

I'm sure you're aware that your comment adds nothing and also is incorrect, but you wanted to be "goady" by adding it ...

Taking home £1800 a month while on mat leave is amazing! Enjoy your time with your LO, it goes so quickly

Based on this thread I think new mums deserve so much better than this, I really do.

Long time since I was on maternity leave (17 years) but for both DD's I got full pay for 9 months.

@dillydallydollydaydream7

Taking home £1800 a month while on mat leave is amazing! Enjoy your time with your LO, it goes so quickly

Thank you! She's 3 months now and it already feels like it's flying! 🙈

The maternity pay cost for the NHS must be horrendous

God that's loads! I get 12 weeks full pay and then I move to stat which is £130 a week. If I wanted to take 9 months I'd need £6000 in savings so cover the £1000 a month I contribute to mortgage and bills

I'm not better off! I'm losing £800?!

Overall, yes. But for the 8 weeks that you get full
pay that includes SMP. You can’t get full pay and SMP together. I did spell this out earlier.

It’s

8 weeks full pay (including SMP)
18 weeks half pay plus SMP
13 weeks SMP only

So of course you’re worse off overall, but what you said about getting SMP on top of your pay isn’t completely correct.

Maybe slow down a bit and understand what is actually being said to you.

@ineedaholidaynow

The maternity pay cost for the NHS must be horrendous

Enough to prevent being able to bring in cover because the mat leave costs so much.

My company offer 90% for 6 weeks then SMP out to 39 weeks. Pretty shitty really.

@NavigatingAdolescence

I'm not better off! I'm losing £800?!

Overall, yes. But for the 8 weeks that you get full
pay that includes SMP. You can’t get full pay and SMP together. I did spell this out earlier.

It’s

8 weeks full pay (including SMP)
18 weeks half pay plus SMP
13 weeks SMP only

So of course you’re worse off overall, but what you said about getting SMP on top of your pay isn’t completely correct.

Maybe slow down a bit and understand what is actually being said to you.

There's no need to be rude and tell me to slow down and understand what's being said. I may be a sleep deprived new mummy but I'm also an intelligent woman.

On my payslip there is a section that says Occ Mat pay, then underneath SMP - then "adjusted amount (where some is taken off to allow for SMP). The net amount after that, is 1,800 (800 less than usual). So I can see on my payslip where they have adjusted for SMP

@Peace43

My company offer 90% for 6 weeks then SMP out to 39 weeks. Pretty shitty really.

All of that is SMP so it is the minimum. Your employer isn’t providing anything.

There's no need to be rude and tell me to slow down and understand what's being said. I may be a sleep deprived new mummy but I'm also an intelligent woman.

You’ve been pretty rude to me here and given you had no idea how generous your package is compared to lots of others or how to calculate it I won’t comment on the intelligence point.

I just assumed your OH wasn’t around to argue with you so you’d decided to do it here.

I think if you are on an above average income then it is realistic to be able to save up some money prior to maternity leave. I appreciate those on lower incomes cannot realistically afford to do so.

Your mat pay is amazing. I had a massive drop to SMP plus car allowance. However because I live in the North West and normally earn well I'd been able save plenty to cover the year's outgoings. If you live in a cheap area and earn a very good wage but still have massive outgoings that take up all that income then yes you will miss the £800 but perhaps might need to look at those outgoings! It's surprising you didn't realise your pay was exceptional but I guess medics tend to socialise together and I suppose it's not very British to talk about money more widely which is not terribly helpful really.

@DanielTigersMummy21

I think if you are on an above average income then it is realistic to be able to save up some money prior to maternity leave. I appreciate those on lower incomes cannot realistically afford to do so.

We did. I was just wondering how other packages compared after my friend seemed very shocked and said "most people" struggle like mad. I had no idea what a pittance pay would be if I wasn't employed by a company who pay occupational mat pay. I wanted to see if her claims were the norm, that's all

I only got £400 a month so i would say it’s really good!