Wondering if anyone here with expertise can clarify a couple of things for me. Apologies if this is long.
I work part time, self-employed. In a typical year I earn enough (as I understand) to qualify for funded childcare hours, though not by much (around £11,000 on last tax return). I have a DS who will be 3 in December and will start nursery in September, at 2. I believe he should qualify for the recently extended funded 15 hours from September. However, I am pregnant and due mid-July. From my reading of self-employed entitlement, I should get some maternity allowance but apparently am not entitled to maternity leave. I understand you get the funded hours still if you are on maternity leave, but can’t find anything specific about maternity allowance meaning you qualify for that. Also timing is perhaps bad because I’ll already be on leave when he starts. We can’t wait until January or we’ll lose his place (popular nursery). Any advice on whether we will qualify? (DH is employed).
My second question concerns maternity allowance. I’m confident I’ll qualify for the basic rate but that is tiny and I believe you can get up to 90% of your earnings, up to about £150/week. That seems to be contingent on paying class 2 NI. I was just under the threshold for class 2 on my last tax return and will be about the same this April. I don’t understand NI at all, but gather that for pension purposes, class 2s are treated as paid if you earn between about £6-12k. What I don’t understand is if this also qualifies me for a higher rate of MA or if I need to pay some kind of top up. I’m happy to pay a top up if it means I get better MA but obviously don’t want to do so unnecessarily. Equally I’m not actually sure how you pay such a top up and get it recognised…