Maternity leave when single

[Summer1979]

Hello, I am single and a mother of one. I am due to have a baby in February.

I currently earn 22k a year and receive £87 every 4 weeks in tax credits.
I am trying to budget so I can decide how long I have off for my maternity leave. I have meticulously planned my income for this and next financial year. It looks like my income with SMP for 32 weeks will be £14195 for the 2017/18 financial year.

I did a tax credit calculator and based on this it states that I would be entitled to £470 in tax credit and £199 in working tax credit every 4 weeks.

The result being I'd be financially stable enough to take my full 32 weeks off maternity.

It seems bonkers it is this much and will call tax credits when I am home from work. But I am keen to hear other people's experiences and is this really how much I can get whilst I am off work?

Thank you for any advice or experiences you have in advance.

That doesn't sound unreasonable, as if you need to cover nursery fees they could easily be around £1000 per month for a full time role, and your salary wouldn't cover this / enable you to work without them?

Did you call the tax credits line yet, did they confirm it? Hope it works out for you x

Your £87 every four weeks now sounds low to me