Funded hours on maternity allowance

[Dinosaurus86]

I’m self-employed (PT) and, all being well, have a baby due in July. DS1 is due to start nursery in September. He’ll be 2, turning 3 in December.

I know we’ll get the universal 15 hours from Jan, but am trying to figure out if we can get the new 15 hours from Sept while I’m on maternity allowance. I would normally earn enough in a year to qualify but almost certainly won’t in this case. I’m pretty sure you generally qualify while on mat leave but apparently when self-employed you’re not entitled to mat leave..? Has anyone else navigated this?

I also want to know the answer to this! X

Me too!!!!

If you’re self-employed you may not be eligible for SMP but you can get Maternity Allowance if you’ve earnt more than £30/week for at least 13 weeks (or £390) and your Class 2 NICs are up to date (you can top these up, if needed). Maternity Allowance is the same amount as the basic rate of SMP, it’s just paid directly by HMRC rather than by an employer.

And you are correct that you can get funded hours while on mat leave, as long as you intend to return to work when your mat leave is over.

Do you know if being on maternity allowance is considered equivalent to being on maternity leave @GreenTurtle75? From what I’ve read, if you’re self-employed you are not entitled to maternity leave (I assume due to the definition relating to employers needing to keep your job available etc). I will not meet the minimum earnings threshold for funded hours over the financial year when a large portion of it is on MA - but I would normally meet the threshold.

I can’t say from personal experience but all the documentation I’ve read (and reports from other Mumsnet users in the past) point to this being the case.

To clarify, I mean that being in receipt of MA appears to be treated the same as ‘being on maternity leave’ in their definition of who is eligible for funded childcare. You may need to get on the phone with someone about the earnings threshold – I’d expect they’d base it on the previous tax year (as in the one ending in April), as otherwise people in paid employment would also be affected.