Did you get into debt on maternity leave?

[HelloFrogs]

I follow Nugget on Instagram, it’s a self described page dedicated to money when on maternity leave. A video today said 26% of mums get into debt when on maternity leave. Tbh I can see how, not that I think we personally would. We would just go without as we are fortunate enough to afford the absolute essentials and bills on one wage. I’m taking 10 months off (and even that will be a stretch) but SMP just does not go very far. Cost of living crisis is horrendous and mortgage rates are sky high - we just fixed a new one and I could cry at how much our mortgage will soon be!

Before anyone criticises those who get into debt on maternity leave- don’t, you don’t know the circumstances: cost of living crisis, made redundant, unexpected twins, unplanned pregnancy, the list goes on!

Did you get into debt on maternity leave? Is it actually that common?

Yes, DH and I ended up with around £20k on credit cards just keeping our heads above water when our kids were small. But we always paid the mortgage and everyone was clothed and fed, can’t imagine not having DS2 for the sake of a few more quid in the bank at the time.

I didn't for first two but for our third yes. Months in NICU, took longer maternity than planned and now unemployed caring for disabled child (ironically, better off now than when I was working full time in a well paid job). Paying off debt gradually and not worrying about it.

Yes I have gone into debt towards the end of maternity leave. Just a small amount £1-2k on an interest free credit card which does not have to be repaid until we are back to 2 incomes. Worst case scenario we could ask family to relieve the debt if we found unexpectedly we could not afford to pay it off on time.

We did not plan to go into debt but live in the South East where COL is phenomenal - and had an unexpected emergency house repair that used up most of the spare money we had saved to cover my leave. Our day to day living expenses are simply too high to have saved more than we did. But our incomes are also high too so that relative to our ingoings and outgoings, £1-2k isn't as massive as it would be if we had lower incomes in a lower cost area.

Not all debt is bad. In our case it's a pragmatic decision and I'm confident we will repay without interest.

I had a decent Maternity leave package from my workplace at 26 weeks full pay and then half pay for a while and then you could take unpaid. I had ten months off in total.

I was early 20s when I had my child - young and skint! I went back to working full-time after 6 months - however I was fortunate to receive 6 months full pay, so no added debt. Paying 3 years of nursery bills afterwards is a different story however!

We used £25k of savings and ended up
with £3k on credit card. I am the main earner, DH couldn’t cover more than 25% of our outgoings.

But we both wanted me to have the full year off. I got 6 weeks full pay, 12 weeks half plus SMP, then just SMP. We needed another £28k to make ends meet.

Hence why we only have 1!

I did! Went right into my overdraft and haven’t really got out of it since. We manage though and get by ok. I just focused on spending time with my baby and getting myself right again. Not an ideal situation though, but that’s life! I don’t stress about things too much.

Yes. Currently paying off 3 x 0% credit cards but it's manageable. Just.

I did, but mine was because my financially abusive dick of an ex husband didn't support me properly leaving me to pay for everything for the baby aswell as bills and my mortgage contribution. He was buying £500 suits from Singapore during this time when I couldn't afford £1 on a saver journey for the bus and had to walk everywhere with the pram.

It was the darkest, most joyless period of my life.

I agree with you! The only reason we’ve left it 11 years to have a baby is because this is the first time we’ve felt financially ready to.

I'm on maternity leave now and we started saving as soon as we got the BFP. I think it will be enough to cover us for the duration!

We spent £30k on ivf before getting pregnant, so my savings were non- existent by that point and I still have about £3x of it left to pay off (interest free thankfully). I’m now on maternity leave and saved like mad as soon as I found out I was pregnant. I’ve got enough to cover my bills and have some spending money to last me six months. I only get smp so no choice but to go back to work much sooner than I would like. I’ve planned to not go into debt as long as I’m careful, and still pay off the last of my credit card through minimum payments until I’m earning again.

I didn’t get into debt but I’d saved up beforehand and then depleted those savings

With my second pregnancy, which was twins, yep. Not so much the maternity leave as that was OK but on returning to work with nursery fees for 3 under 3, it was a choice between get into debt and maintain my career, or give up a job which I worked hard to get and progress in. I chose to sustain my career. Twins are now six, nursery fees a distant memory and it was worth it.

No, DP and I have separate finances but he paid me 1/2 of what I lost so our loss was the same, and it was enough for us both to get by.

I did with dd2 10 years ago. We had a smaller gap than expected (I was 36 and thought it would take a while to conceive). We paid for dd1, who was just turned 2, to stay in nursery 3 days a week while I was on mat leave because she has asd (we later found out) and I just couldn’t cope with 2dc on my own more than 2 days a week.

I had a whole year off, we got a couple of grand into debt and paid it off within a few years. I don’t regret it. Life was tough enough as it was. I know a few people who got into debt but a manageable amount and were happy to have the time off with the baby.

I didn’t get into debt. My SMP covered my share of the bills and I had savings for everything else. Once my SMP ran out, I was able to WFH and chose my own hours, which really helped. I was down to my last £60 when I went back to work though, and I was so lucky to get a job that paid weekly rather than monthly.

No because DH and I both work for great companies who offer good maternity and SPL packages. I got 6months full pay (then 3 months half and 3 months SMP), but he also got 6 months shared parental leave full pay. By splitting the year 6 months each, we didn't see a drop in salary.

No, we saved something like 5k and then were VERY frugal. My maternity package was ok (half pay for 4 months or something like that).

Everything was second hand or given to us. Literally everything. We just hung out in the park or at home / friends houses. Didn't go out in evenings much. EBF and baby led weaned. So hardly spent a thing except weekly shop.

How much are your outgoings that your DH presumably FT salary can only cover 25 percent?!

My DH earned a small amount at that time, he had just recovered from a failed business and bankruptcy. I earned a lot more relatively. My DH’s salary didn’t even cover the main mortgage.

We had 2 mortgages, 2 cars on finance, a horse, credit cards, 3 cats etc etc. Our monthly outgoings were around the £4k mark with DH bringing in just over £1k.

That was almost 6 years ago, it’s different now. I’m part time but contribute 70% of our income (60% salary and 10% BTL income) and DH earns more than he did in a different career but still substantially less than me.

We hadn’t planned to have children (and were 41 and 46) so our life wasn’t set up in such a “traditional” way but fortunately we winged it with savings and I had 13.5 glorious months off (holiday plus mat leave). It cost a small fortune but some things are worth more than money. Still not cleared off the credit card but who cares.

I had twins. Had to take an extended maternity leave as my job at the time was just enough to cover for one baby. 2 years in, covid happened. It was difficult for a long time and without family help we would've been up the creek without a paddle.

A lot of domestic abuse starts during pregnancy and during the new baby stage so that will include financial abuse. So the mum may have planned accordingly and then not have access to money on maternity leave.
That happened to me. I had my own money but I expected my husband to contribute. He didn't. He spent the money I had saved up for maternity leave on strip clubs so I was devastated to have to go back to work early when the baby was a few months old and I was breastfeeding. No warning signs before hand that he would take the money or behave like that.
Our "baby" is 17 now and me and him are fine. The husband is an ex. A lot of people's financial struggles on maternity leave will be due to abusive situations that they didn't anticipate happening.

Yes, this exactly.

For me, unplanned pregnancy, stat maternity pay in a job I couldn’t return to as it was a £25k job with wholly unsuitable hours and demands with a young baby. Partner earning similar amount to me. We got into debt.

Subsequent children were planned for when we were in a better financial position.

I didn't, but I worked out how the finances would be and started saving to cover the shortfall before ttc. Continued to saver during pregnancy, but wouldn't have been able to put enough away in 9 months, so if I'd had a surprise pregnancy, I'd have probably ended up in debt.