Can I claim anything?

[vixb1]

Hi,

I'm lucky enough to have a household income that means we aren't entitled to any benefits, so we don't claim anything.

However I'm due to go on maternity leave next month and will only get statutory maternity payments and be left with my partners part time salary only.

Do you know if I can claim any benefits for the year I'm off as our household income will be really low? Or as I'm not usually entitled to anything that still applies whilst on maternity leave?

Thanks!

Only child benefit.

I'm not claiming that now, but would be entitled to claim it when I'm off you think?

It's all Universal Credit now. You can check entitled to and see if you qualify for any Universal Credit. There's a 5 week minimum wait for any funds so best check if you qualify now. There's no more tax credits and the like for new claimants.

It depends on your income if it is worth it. If one parent will earn more than £50k in one tax year you have to pay some of it back at the end of the year. If you earn over 60k then it all has to be paid back at the end of the year.

Your partner might be better off claiming if he/she regularly has a lower income than you because if you earn over a certain amount you can't claim that, either. It's all UC now so check on entitled to or Google Universal Credit and look at the government's site.

Can they up their hours?

You can claim child benefit and maybe Universal credit. It would depend on your household earnings including smp and rent etc. However one person can be the designated carer for your child, the other might be expected to look for full time work.

Check 'entitled to' but your definition of a really low income might be different to the government's.

Would it not be better for the part time person to either up their hours or take the leave instead? Working part time is a luxury and one the household doesn’t seem to be able to afford in the new circumstances.

Why can't your partner increase their hours or take on a second part time job?

When you are on mat leave you count as working your normal hours, even though your income drops. I'm not sure how that plays out under UC though. For what it's worth, we get TCs when I'm on mat leave, and only a tiny bit for childcare otherwise.
Upping hours is all very well, but not always possible!

Why take a year off? That's only a fairly recent trend. Can you take 6 months and partner 3?