To fund my own Mat leave

[KL921]

Lying awake worrying about money so thought I’d ask the views on Mumsnet….

I’ve recently found out I’m pregnant with DC2. Long way to go but just starting to think of costs / what we need to be saving now for Mat leave.

Up until recently me and my DP earned roughly the same so have always paid equal for everything. For DC1 we were each able to put an amount each month into a special savings account which I then used to cover my share of the bills etc while on Mat leave, essentially paid myself a salary from it.

Obviously this time around we have a lot less disposable income due to childcare and a massively increased income. We manage, but neither of us have any aside at the end of the month to save.

I’ve just had a pay rise so will now be taking home around £200/ £300 a month extra.

My plan is to put this aside over the next few months and during the full pay part of Mat leave and then use this money (alone with nursery fees saved when our 30 free hours kicks in) to pay my half of the bills while I’m in the statutory / unpaid part of Mat leave.

Does this sound reasonable? Or should I be asking my DP to try to contribute?

We each put in a set amount a month into a joint account to cover bills, food, DC1 etc. The rest (maybe £200 each) is currently ours to do with what we want.

We each have equal savings of around £5k.

I can’t think of any other way around it unless I go back to work after the full pay period of Mat leave is up.

YANBU = sounds like a good plan

YABU = DP should be contributing in some way / it’s not just on you to cover the costs (ideas welcome!)

If he can’t contribute any more than he already is, then you’ve got no choice but to save your extra and fund your mat leave. I do think it’s a lot of effort on all counts from you though and you’re already working hard physically being pregnant so I would expect any extra he has to also be saved. I would feel I am taking on all the responsibility. It’s another thread but it’s shameful in my opinion that in one of the worlds leading countries women are left to save to fund their own maternity leave! The system for pregnant women in the UK is really crap. x

Totally agree with that general point

Posters generally point out that partners should be contributing more when the woman is on statutory maternity pay; their partner earned more than them anyway, and everything is still 50/50.

In your case, you're the higher earner, you're on full pay and you're basically putting everything in a joint account apart from equal "spending money" for yourselves. Which is a perfectly reasonable way to do it. If you thought of it this way (we put everything into joint money rother then £200 each for ourselves) rather than categorising it as "saving for maternity leave" no one would see a problem with it. The way you are phrasing it sounds like you are making it your sole responsibility to cover maternity leave, which isn't actually the case!

@LionessesRules He’s not in FT nursery, he does three days a week currently so we’ll either drop him to two when the free hours kick in or keep him at three and pay for the 12 weeks of the year that they don’t cover (our nursery doesn’t offer term time only). He’s been there for over a year so we wouldn’t want to stop him going completely and then try and get him back in.

Would be looking at both doing three days a week after Mat leave for a few months which would be tight but then DS would start school (whole other headache!)

I think it sounds reasonable. I'm all for separate bank accounts but as long as you've both got roughly the same disposable income then it's fine. The same should happen if you go PT, any money he earns over and above your wage should be split equally between you both

@TooHotToTangoToo I am already part time so it’s actually the opposite that if I went back full time I’d then have to contribute more.

That sounds sensible to me. Our financial situations sound very similar (put equally into a joint pot, but keeping the remainder for personal spends/savings). I also earn more than my DH and so have been saving more during my pregnancy and will continue to do so during my 6 months full pay whilst on mat leave to top up the SMP and zero pay periods (I'm intending to take a full year off). I will basically be covering the dip in income through my own savings without any help from my DH, but I'm happy to do this as it just makes sense with the difference in our salaries/ability to save. I think you just need to work out what feels right for you and your family. Best of luck with your pregnancy. (PS Today is my last working day before mat leave starting tomorrow-woohoo!)

Ahh that’s amazing @redlou123 congratulations and enjoy the start of your mat leave, hopefully you’ll get a few days to relax before baby arrives!

I did dip into my own savings to extend my Mat leave with DS1 but that was my choice because I was the one deciding to extend it and at the time I also had more savings than him.

Good luck!