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Original poster

Can anyone help me with what my maternity money and what if anything I can get to help?

18 replies

Needhelp33 · 20/03/2018 20:00

Annoyingly I found out I'm pregnant the week before I started my new job, this means I don't qualify for the company maternity pay... As far as I can tell from the calculator thing online I can't get statutory maternity pay either! I can try to get maternity allowance whatever that is?!? As far as I can see its not a great deal and I'm going to be forced to take bare minimum maternity so I can afford to keep paying my bills. This is our first baby so I am totally clueless as far as how it all works. Can anyone help please?

OP posts:

Babyroobs · 20/03/2018 20:15

I'm not sure of the qualifying criteria but of you are on a low household income you may bd entitled to some tax credits or Universal credit (depending on your area) once the baby is born as well as £20. 70 child benefit wach week.

Sib86 · 20/03/2018 20:18

I believe maternity allowance isn't heaps more that statutory maternity pay and as previous poster says if your household income is very low you can claim tax credits (may now be universal credit depending on where you live).

TittyGolightly · 20/03/2018 20:20

SMP is 90% of income (calculated during a qualifying period) for 6 weeks, then £140ish a week for 33 weeks.

MA has lower qualifying criteria and is £140ish per week for 39 weeks.

Some midwives have been known to alter the due dates on MATB1s when it’s that close.

Original poster

Needhelp33 · 20/03/2018 20:28

Thanks everyone, I had really hoped I'd get smp but it doesn't seem to be available to me but I'll definitely look into it better... Unfortunately we don't count as low income household but the kicker is that I earn more than my husband so by my wages being slashed down to maternity allowance were going to be down a significant amount of money while I'm off and I'm seriously concerned about my ability to cover all the bills during that time... I think I'm going to have to try to save my ass as best I can... The downside of that is I'm currently signed off with hyperemesis and only getting statutory sick pay while I'm off which is drastically down on my usual wage so it's not helping things at the moment and only adding to the stress that's making the hyperemesis worse... Don't get me wrong we wanted this baby for years and I've only changed my job because we were told it couldn't happen naturally... Guess we proved that to be wrong!

OP posts:

TittyGolightly · 20/03/2018 21:45

How pregnant were you when you found out?

JoJoSM2 · 20/03/2018 21:53

Another option to consider would be for your husband to take some leave and for you to go back sooner.

Re eligibility for pay, have you checked things thoroughly? If it's NHS, state education etc you might still be eligible for sth.

TittyGolightly · 20/03/2018 21:55

Re eligibility for pay, have you checked things thoroughly? If it's NHS, state education etc you might still be eligible for sth.

Highly doubtful.

JoJoSM2 · 20/03/2018 22:55

Titty, I think that if you change jobs from on hospital to another or one school to another, you can keep your enhancements even if you're not eligible for smp.

Original poster

Needhelp33 · 21/03/2018 05:54

Hi everyone, yeah I've checked. I am now 11 weeks and been in post about 4/5 weeks so definitely won't qualify for maternity pay at work.

I'm definitely going to need to take shortened leave but since none of us can guarantee the we're not going to end up with a section or a huge tear I've got to base my decision on the possibility that I might and then can't drive for 6 weeks after, since I've got to give my employer 8 weeks notice to end my leave no matter what money I'm able to get I'm going to be forced to have a minimum of 8 weeks off.

OP posts:

TittyGolightly · 21/03/2018 06:44

Well, you have 6 months to throw everything you can at it. There is loads of advice on the moneysavingexpert site about saving money. If you and your partner set your minds on it you could get a decent amount saved. Don’t spend much on baby stuff - most of it isn’t needed and babies don’t care as long as they are warm, fed and cuddled.

JoJoSM2 · 21/03/2018 06:44

I think you might like 2-3 months off anyway even if the full year isn't financially viable. You could always just save up in the meantime to meet your outgoings at that point in time. It could also be a good time for dh to do overtime/get another job for a while etc to help build up he savings.

You'd also need to check if he wants to be a sahp for a few months. If both of you were to work full time from early on, you'd need to explore your childcare options. Often, babies need to be 6 months for a nursery or childminder to take them.

MaverickSnoopy · 21/03/2018 06:54

Don't forget you accrue annual leave on maternity leave. When I was with my employer during my first pregnancy they paid all remaining leave for the holiday year to me before I went on mat leave. In my second pregnancy (different employer) they asked me to take it. Could be worth investigating.

SMA and SMP are basically the same, except you don't get the 6 weeks at 90% pay. If you can save as much as you can when you return to work it will really help.

As for tax credits - run the calculator online. You can ask them to work it out based on this year's income. I'm not sure whether that then means you need to pay some back next year if your income is higher. I'm sure someone else can advise. You could be entitled to housing benefit.

You'll definitely get child benefit which is about £80/month.

What are your chikdcare plans? You mention possibly going back to work at around 8 weeks. Most nurseries from the research I did showed that they don't take children until 12 weeks. They do also ask for a deposit up front so if you're using a nursery that's something to factor in.

How do you budget at the moment? When I went on mat leave I did a spreadsheet of all income and expenditure for the whole time I was off and it really helped to see what we'd actually have.

Grobagsforever · 21/03/2018 06:58

Husband takes the leave and then cuts his hours to reduce childcare costs as you are higher earner

NameChange30 · 21/03/2018 07:09

Congratulations on your pregnancy!

Even if your salary is usually too high for you to qualify for tax credits, you may well qualify while you’re on maternity leave. The calculation is usually based on your income for the previous tax year but you can ask them to calculate it based on your predicted income for the current year if it will be significantly less (which yours will while you’re on maternity allowance). The income threshold for Child Tax Credits is higher than the threshold for Working Tax Credits, and Maternity Allowance isn’t counted.

I suggest you do some sums based on different scenarios, use an online benefits calculator (eg entitledto or Turn2us) to work out what you might get in each scenario.

Personally I wouldn’t have wanted to go back to work before DS was 6 months old, so if it was me I would save as much as possible now and manage as best I could in order to take 6 months maternity leave. As PPs said, you and your partner could do shared parental leave so you take the first 3-6 months and he takes 3-6 months after that.

I think this has already been mentioned but you do accrue annual leave while on maternity leave so you can take some leave on full pay at the beginning and/or end which will help financially.

Also agree with PP that Moneysavingexpert has some great tips.

Original poster

Needhelp33 · 21/03/2018 07:13

I had planned to save as much money as possible but the problem I have currently is that I've been signed off with the hyperemesis so my wages for at least this month are going to be drastically down leaving nothing at all to save.

My husband will be back in work at reduced hours once the baby is here sharing childcare with my mother in law who lives with us so hopefully once I can go back to work our childcare costs won't be too high, I know I can get childcare vouchers through work to help if need be because I will have been there long enough once I need them. I've got some leave, around 4 weeks and I will definitely have to take that around my maternity leave because it has to be used by the end of the year, I'm more than likely going to have to take a couple of before baby arrives and then the other couple of weeks after my maternity finishes.

I'm going to be trying to balance the books today to see what can be done as far as reducing outgoings as much as possible possible. We're extremely fortunate that a very good friend is letting us have all of her old baby things, crib, cot etc as her youngest is no longer using them so aside from new mattresses for them as we need them our baby related outgoings are less than they could be.

OP posts:

NameChange30 · 21/03/2018 07:15

“I know I can get childcare vouchers through work to help if need be”

Actually the childcare vouchers Scheme is closing in October (it was due to close in April but that’s been delayed). However there is a new scheme, Tax Free Childcare, so you will be able to save some money through that.

Sorry about your hyperemesis and hope it eases soon

TittyGolightly · 21/03/2018 07:15

I know I can get childcare vouchers through work to help if need be

Depends when your baby is due. Nobody will be able to sign up for childcare vouchers after September (?) this year so it depends when baby is due/arrives as to whether that will be an option. tax free childcare will be available though.

What sort of salaries are you and your partner on now? Will just help to have an idea.

Original poster

Needhelp33 · 21/03/2018 10:19

I didn't realise the childcare vouchers are stopping thanks for the information. I earn 29 and my husband earns 19 which is why he will be the one reducing hours after the baby gets here and why maternity allowance is such a huge drop in income for that period of time, if I weren't currently off sick and not being paid for it due to be a new member of staff I'd be able to save enough to cover the time off but as I'm not getting paid full wage currently it makes life very difficult... I did have a reserve saved but I had to use that when I changed jobs as due to circumstances I had to work almost two weeks unpaid last month so that ate up the reserve I had saved.

OP posts:

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