To consider redundancy with an unemployed husband

[Anon46]

Background: I've been offered voluntary redundancy from my job working for the Government. I earn £40k with a rise every year. My payout would be in the region of £50-55k after tax. I'm currently on maternity leave. I rent privately in London (£1300pcm) and have approx £260k in my savings account.

Pros of leaving:
£50-55k is a lot of money.
I would need to get childcare if I returned to work (and my husband found a job) instead so a large chunk of my take home pay would be spent on that. Not to mention being knackered from running around doing the nursery drop offs.
I don't really enjoy the job. It's a low skilled job that I fell into about 20 years ago and it made sense to stay as it paid the bills. I was looking forward to going on maternity leave for a long time.
I only have to wait 6 months before returning to a Government job if I want to avoid repaying the redundancy compensation. It's worth noting that it's much harder to get a job nowadays and the majority of jobs tend to get filled by internal candidates.
A HUGE pro IMO: I run the risk of returning from maternity leave and realising that I either don't like what my job has become whilst I was away or childcare costs make going to work a bit pointless therefore leaving at a later date with no payout i.e. I would be better off leaving now and getting a large amount of money instead of returning to work for six months and leaving empty handed.

Cons of leaving:
I have a relatively easy job which is well paid for what I actually do and I WFH for part of the week. I could get a job elsewhere doing the same work as it's non specialised however I doubt I would earn the same. The Government tends to pay quite well for my kind of work.
I have a defined benefit pension, 33 days annual leave plus bank holidays. You get the jist. It's a pretty family friendly & flexible place to work.
I have a laid back manager who doesn't micro manage me. Although she could leave at any moment of course.
My husband is unemployed. He used to have a very well paid job but lost it several years ago. He has spent the past year applying for jobs in his field without success. He's now applying for supermarket jobs to get some money coming in. He's reliant on me financially as he's spent his savings. Ideally he would get another well paid job meaning that he wouldn't be available for childcare anymore. But I have a week to decide on redundancy and who knows how long it will take him to find a job.
Making myself unemployed means even less chance of getting a mortgage.
My aforementioned savings rule me out of claiming any benefits (my husband is also ineligible because of this too).

Did OP sell their home and waiting to buy hence the money? Although without jobs OP and husband wouldn't get a mortgage. How old is OP as that changes the answer also.

It might be/ probably is social housing

It says privately in the op

You would be able to claim New Style JSA (JSA C) for 6 months as this isn't means tested, but eligibility depends on you paying National Insurance contributions in the last 2 complete tax years.

IMO, you’d be bonkers to walk away from a government role (especially the pension), which offers fantastic annual leave allowances plus flexible working (usually flexi time in government too) and the ability to WFH when you have a child to consider. IMO, you’d be bonkers to walk away from a government role (especially the pension), which offers fantastic annual leave allowances plus flexible working (usually flexi time in government too) and the ability to WFH when you have a child to consider.

I only know about DWP so can't talk about other Govt Depts.

The final salary pension scheme was closed many years ago & new entrants were put on a career average pension (with no lump sum) & existing members of the old 'Classic' pension moved to the new pension. So the Civil Service pension isn't worth what it was. People (often women) who work part-time to care for children or older relatives are disadvantaged as a result. Yes there's flexi-time, term-time working etc available which is brilliant. WFH is being gradually removed with more staff being required to attend the office for at least 50% or 70% of their time depending on their pay grade. Of course, the majority of DWP staff work in public facing roles in Jobcentres and WFH isn't an option.

I'd also like to point out that Civil Servants have sacrificed some liberties in order to work for the Govt. They have to have permission to visit certain countries before they travel (including China), they have to resign before standing for public office-as an MP for example. They also tend to be paid less than those in the private sector.

Thanks for everyone's responses. To answer some questions:
I'm late thirties.
We live in outer London and our landlord has only increased the rent once in 14 years. It seems crazy to rent for so long with savings but the location is convenient for family/work and we can't afford anything decent in this area.
My husband spent a few years investing after he lost his job. It didn't work out so now he's looking to get back into work but AI has taken over his field of work so there's less jobs, lower pay but more people applying. if I knew that he would get another well paid job soon then I would take the money and use it for a better house but that's a big risk when we have a child depending on us.
This situation has made me realise that I really need to get myself sorted with a mortgage. I can get a nice house in Buckinghamshire for around £400k and the commute wouldn't be THAT bad. Or I could stay local and get a hovel of a home but stay close to family.
A common theme among people that I ask is that they wouldn't give up a DB pension for anything!

So the Civil Service pension isn't worth what it was.

Perhaps not, but accruing 2.32% of your salary for that year, index-linked, as a guaranteed pension for each year you work is still a damn sight better than most other pension schemes around.

I am retired ... have 3 DDs ... OH died.

When I look back the one thing that I do not regret is that we had the courage to make leaps of faith to improve our quality of life:

• my OH retired from his professional partnership at age 42 as it was making him ill. He did locums and holiday cover to bring in an income.
• we sold our lovely family home and downsized with small children to achieve the above
• we wiped out our mortgage in spite of accountant's advice to maintain it. We knew that the peace of mind of no housing costs was precious to us.
• I jumped off the wheel of my secure career to pursue freelance arts and music.

Life is a risk. A bit of carpe diem can be a good thing.

Ask yourself what things are most important to you at this moment.

I can understand the redundancy payment is tempting but I think you have to look at your age and likelihood of getting an equally well paid job. Not to mention your husband's unemployment situation. Unemployment also has a knock-on effect on your ability to be accepted for new accommodation and credit.

A permanent CS job with pension isn't to be sneered at and the redundancy process is brutal even if it's voluntary.

I’m a civil servant and no way would I leave for 55k, especially with a young family. Stop wasting money renting with that much in the bank.