Not going back to work while considering child number 3

[LlamaMama93]

My husband and I are considering trying for baby number 3 ... The only thing stopping us is money. Our two children are in school and we both work full time right now however we struggle with before and after school childcare right now. We were thinking about me not going back to work after having number 3 ... It would mean no more childcare issues for my other two however that is a whole wage we would be missing and i am worried we would struggle... Has anyone done this? ... Do you get any sort of benefit help if you leave after maternity? ... If i stayed in work after maternity i wouldn't be able to afford full time childcare for the baby as well as the after school club for the other two ... This is literally the only thing stopping us from trying for number 3 ... Please help x

At the risk of sounding horrible (and thats really not my intention), if you know you cant afford 3, then why have 3?

Write down all your outgoings. Can you afford it off one wage? If so, go for it. If not, don’t do it.

I think you shouldn’t make any decision based on current levels of benefits. There are going to be some very lean years ahead and further cuts are surely not impossible.

How much income would be coming in on 1 wage. That will determine if your eligible for benefits

Personally I wouldnt give up work as I would be worried about regaining that further down the line. We could afford for dh to be a sahp but he works a bit more flexibility than I do to support childcare could that be an option?

Don't base this decision on whether the government will provide help to you if you do go for it.
As PPs have said write down all outgoings and see if it fits with your lifestyle.

Could you or your DP consider evening shift or night shift work? 2 nights per week at weekend would also work with childcare.As for the words "the government" used by a previous poster in regards this, I would replace that with "the taxpayer"

I think money is a huge reason why so many families choose to stop at 2.

We are financially comfortable; but money was one of the reasons why we stopped at two, we don’t want to be in a position to have to worry about money or not Support existing children so they reach their potential (we want to say yes to the football lessons and music lessons etc if that’s what they want).

If money is so tight that after school care costs is currently a worry, I’d gently suggest that having another baby will just be too stretched for finances, to the detriment of your older children and overall family life.

Why would you want to make your life so much more financially worse? 'Literally the only thing' stopping you is a pretty big thing. If you can't afford another child without a lot of stress and financial, don't have one.

Make sure you consider all options - including you and your partner both working 4 days, you going part time and you being self employed (if that's a possibility in your industry). Just dropping work makes it very hard to get back in. So you need to consider all options. I don't think it's as black and white as other posters are suggesting

You'll also need to think about whether or not you'd need a bigger house or car too.

You'd need to look at all the implications - personally I wouldn't be wanting to rely on benefits or not being able to provide my older children with opportunities because I'd chosen to have a third. I'd also think about what you'd need to buy or upgrade over the coming years (like a bigger car maybe).