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??

@newmummy21 You are being incredibly rude to a poster who has tried repeatedly to help you and you have ignored what she said then sworn at her.

You might say you are intelligent but you aren’t demonstrating that on this thread.

I was paying more for FT childcare 20 years ago.. very lucky

[quote Nicknacky]@newmummy21 You are being incredibly rude to a poster who has tried repeatedly to help you and you have ignored what she said then sworn at her.

You might say you are intelligent but you aren’t demonstrating that on this thread.[/quote]

Except I didn't ask for "help" with whether I was being correctly paid. I asked for others' experiences in terms of whether this is as far from the norm of mat pay as my friend suggested.

I was on £1800-£2000 a month when I went on mat leave and my pay dropped to £750 a month. I actually cried when I got my first wage in as HR wouldn’t give me a figure so I had no idea what I was working with. We made it work but it was tough as the £750 didnt even cover my bills

If you have SMP and take the full 12 months do you still not get anything for the last 3 months?

@Nicknacky

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

I wasn't the first one to start making snarky comments, as you'll see from this .

Do you have to pay anything back with the NHS scheme if you don't return to work?

Civil service here - 6 months full pay, 6 weeks at 90% pay, then the remainder at SMP. My department is a profession and so the pay is very good. At any one time there's usually 25%-30% of staff on maternity leave. The cost must be eye-watering.

@ineedaholidaynow

If you have SMP and take the full 12 months do you still not get anything for the last 3 months?

Yes

Well it's certainly a hell of a lot more than teachers get. Are you sure that's net not gross OP?

Yes it’s very, very good compared to many who get SMP. This needs to change!
But it also okay to moan if it’s still hard. Compared to some other countries it’s worse.

@ineedaholidaynow

Do you have to pay anything back with the NHS scheme if you don't return to work?

Yes - I think you have to return for a minimum of 3 months otherwise you pay it all back, which I think is fair enough!

@newmummy21

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

People say this but they never vote for parties "threatening" to put up taxes.

I got full pay for 6m and statutory for 3m where I was and that was 10y ago so I would say it could also be better.

@AudacityBaby

Civil service here - 6 months full pay, 6 weeks at 90% pay, then the remainder at SMP. My department is a profession and so the pay is very good. At any one time there's usually 25%-30% of staff on maternity leave. The cost must be eye-watering.

That doesn’t sound right. When I had CS maternity it was 6 months full, 3 months half plus SMP. Then 13 weeks of nil pay.

Yes it's very good - you clearly aren't just receiving smp like many people do.

@Chocolatebuttercream

Well it's certainly a hell of a lot more than teachers get. Are you sure that's net not gross OP?

Yes, I'm sure. Gross is 2,200 (down from 3,800)

Don't the US only give 6 weeks maternity leave?

I’m NHS and also took my pay equal over 12 months so I knew exactly what i’d have for my entire mat leave

I didn't realise how lucky I was. I got 6 months full pay and then 6 months half pay. Then a further 3 months of accrued holiday and parental leave on full pay. Then I took voluntary redundancy which paid for me to stay home until all 3 children were of school age.

@AColdDuncanGoodhew

I’m NHS and also took my pay equal over 12 months so I knew exactly what i’d have for my entire mat leave

This is what I did too

Congratulations OP, glad the NHS are looking after their employees. Enjoy your time with your baby

@Chocolatebuttercream

Congratulations OP, glad the NHS are looking after their employees. Enjoy your time with your baby

Ah. Thank you

I "lose" about £45,000 by having a baby.

I haven't heard you say how lucky you are yet, OP. Just entitlement and snark.

@Elbie79

I "lose" about £45,000 by having a baby.

I haven't heard you say how lucky you are yet, OP. Just entitlement and snark.

Eh?