Maternity leave (Fiances)

[Chronos321]

Hi,

I need some advise please.

We are planning to TTC this summer.
With this in mind and that I'd like to take the full year maternity leave, my situation is as follows:

My work will pay 12 weeks (6 weeks 90% other 6 weeks 50%) subsequently the std. SMP payments... (Not the best package!)
From what I have seen online, I am not entitled to child benefit due to the combined income at present.
We have some savings, if my partner becomes redundant, it won't cover a full year, just a couple of months at most for mortgage and the monthly expenses.

Is there any extra income due to me being in maternity leave that I am not aware off?
Personally, I am struggling to the thought of not been financially independant during the maternity leave...
I am the one with the higher salary too.. which doesn't help.

Any advise is welcome and thank you in advance.

P.S. Postponing the baby, not an option..
I am 37 now.. :(

If you partner loses their job then you will have to apply for universal credit as a couple.

Everyone gets child credit - it’s about £20 a week, are you thinking of child tax credit? Think that’s been rolled into UC.
I had to save up until I went on Mat Leave and then DH would give me half of whatever money was left after paying our bills. If you want a year off (I had a year) you have to be very frugal.

You can work out what you would be entitled to here: www.entitledto.co.uk/

@Tibtab no not everyone does, my partner and I don't

@Tibtab

Everyone gets child credit - it’s about £20 a week, are you thinking of child tax credit? Think that’s been rolled into UC. I had to save up until I went on Mat Leave and then DH would give me half of whatever money was left after paying our bills. If you want a year off (I had a year) you have to be very frugal.

Not everyone gets child benefit. There’s a cut off now.

@LoopyGremlin @ohwerehalfwaythere
Oops! I forgot the cut off was £50k! Have baby brain this morning! It’s worth applying for to get the pension credit though. Won’t help OP though, sorry!

How much can you save while TTC and while pregnant? I saved enough over 9 months to pretty much cover my normal outgoings for a year of Mat leave and I only got SMP, no extra from the company. Decent wage but not as much as you. Also unusual I think to be such high earners and not already have a bit more saved?

Also just to check your understanding of entitlement to family allowance- it's not based on combined earnings, it's if any one of you earns over £60k. £50k-£60 you get some on a sliding scale.

I am saving now before we start trying in may/june, I plan to have saved enough to give us an extra £200 a month while I'm off. Mine is just 6 weeks 90% then statutory 😳 before mat leave we didn't qualify for anything but once my pay dropped to SMP we qualified for UC which really helped top up my wage for the rest (it stopped as soon as I returned to work). Not sure if that's a possibility for you or if your partner would still be earning too much ☺️

@Rayna37 I haven't seen anywhere that the op has said they're high earners? But your comment feels very judgy imo. You have no idea what goes on in peoples lives that dictates why they do or don't have savings, regardless of how much they earn.

@Chronos321 we'll also be ttc in the summer and intend to do everything possible between now and then to get things straight and some money put to one side. I'm also preparing to not be taking the full allowance of mat leave off. I am lucky to be in a line of work where my child can come with me though so that may help me process a shorter mat leave

I think the high earners comment was because OP said they couldn’t get child benefit and that means they must earn over £60k.

Correct, no child benefit if one of you earns over 60k (however, if that’s you, you’ll get it while on Mat leave by the sound of it)

Unfortunately there’s no magic answer, just saving as much as you possibly can before you TTC and while pregnant.

OP, can you clarify the child benefit situation because you mention combined income. Child benefit isn't calculated based on combined income. The cut off is that if either of you earn £50k-£60k (including any benefits in kind) then you can claim child benefit but have to pay a portion back via self assessment. If either of you earns over £60k you don't get anything.

So if both of you earn £49k with a combined income of £98k you can have all of it.

Despite being in my current job for three years I only get the 90% of pay for six weeks then straight on to stat. Which is a paltry amount. I’m the higher earner too. It’s going to be a big pinch for us but we won’t be entitled to anything more. I’ve saved up enough to cover approx 8 months if we’re careful.

As a PP says if you and/or your DP earn over £50k you start paying child benefit back on a sliding scale up to £60k. It’s based on individual not combined earnings. And it’s based on actual income rather than salary level so you should be eligible to claim while you’re on mat leave, if your DP earns under the threshold, and assuming you’re not such a high earner that you earn over £60K in 12 weeks!

I’m not clear how likely you think it is for your DP to be made redundant, but in that event you’d likely be entitled to other benefits, although others can advise better than me on that.

My first was unplanned so had 7 months to save to cover mat leave, but had a bit longer with my second and am currently squirrelling away for my third! I don’t know your capacity for saving but given lockdown and any potential redundancy for your DP I’d be making that a priority.

Don’t forget you have 10 KIT days that are paid so what we’ve done is standard smp for 33 weeks then 1 day of work per week for 10 weeks then take all annual leave which covers the year. It means I still get a trickle income after smp ends to cover bills (just).

If you're the higher earner then split the mat leave with partner, this will ensure more equal parenting going forward and mean he doesn't struggle to baby to bed alone or the other range of things men seem to find more complex than nuclear physics

Is there a likelihood that your partner is going to be made redundant? Or are you worrying about that hypothetically? If he were to be made redundant while you were on maternity leave, could you then return to work a bit earlier and he stay at home with the baby?

We weren't officially planning (I had come off the pill in preparation but actually fell pregnant within 7 weeks). I littrally saved everything I could during the pregnancy. My little boy is 2 now and I still have some of it in my savings account, my mat package was the same as yours.

While I was on mat leave I actually spent so much less anyway, no commute, no parking, no buying lunch every day.

I obviously don't know your out goings but my husband just uped his contribution to the bills ect. I work part time now so we have just carried on with him paying more than me.

Hi everyone
Thank you for the advices and the link @Tibtab.
I think it is just a matter of tighten our belts more going forward.
Partner won't be losing job, it was hypothetical...just considering the worse case scenario and trying to be "ready".
There are links online, but information is very generic and everyone has a different personal circumstance.
From the posts shared and experiences it gives me comfort that if we are stricter now, we have at least a year minimum to set some savings aside, if I want to take a year off... (I also want a break from work too).