hi, im a sahm to a 5yo,really want another baby, would i be able to claim ma? or would i have to get a job 1st?

[broodymummy]

hi dd is now 5 and i miss her so much since she started school, i feel really broody for another baby, although money is a bit tight and i need to convice dh.

what i wondered if any of you mums knew was, even as a sahm would i be entitled to claim anything like maternity allowence?
as that would make my dream possible?

or if i returned to work, how long would i need to work for, before trying for a baby
to either get employers materanity leave or maternity allowence

or what about if i did some sort of self employed work, how long would i need to do that for before being able to claim maternaty allowence

please,please help me make my dreams come true

i believe you can get something, but not as much as if you had a job then went on maternity.

are you def broody, or just bored?

why not work for a bit while she in school, then decide what to do?

no im definatley broody, i cant stop sniffing my bf bbaby, and when i hold her baby i wish she was mine too

Don't think you can claim MA if you haven't worked recently but registering as self employed may entitle you to something in the future. SMP kicks in as long as you are employed before you get pg and are over the earnings threshold , otherwise MA. You may also get tax credits. entitledto.com may help calculate your options.

How much is MA?

I had DS2 when DS1 was 5 Igot nothing at all as I hadnt worked ditto for DD 3 years later

I may have missed out on something somewhere but I dont think your entitled to anything

Why would you be?

Does thishelp ? basically you'll need to have paid tax and NI recently before baby's due date.

i think its about 100 quid a week for 39 weeks
which would make such a diffrence to us

See here about statutory maternity pay and here about maternity allowance. You need to be employed for 26 out of the 66 weeks before your due date before you can claim MA, but have a look at the links for more info.

x-post LIZS

I am prepared to take a flaming but isn't this bucking the system? I would get SMP because I work - I work because our family can't afford for me not to. If you can afford to be a SAHM then why should you get MA??

TF, I agree.

thanks for the link liz, im happy to get a job or become self employed before trying, just wondered how long id have to wait before starting baby dancing

Enhanced maternity pay kicks in where I work after you've been employed a year. So you can have your baby a year and a day after starting work and you're entitled to that.

Fair enough broodymummy

thanks flowery i know a friend of mine that worked self employed for a few months and was able to get ma,

flowery thanks
im sure this makes perfect sense
"You need to be employed for 26 out of the 66 weeks before your due date before you can claim MA"
but i dont quite get it
sorry for being dim, is there a way you could explain it to me

If you can afford to be a SAHM at the moment why do you need MA to have another baby? How odd.

Babies don't cost much though.

When they start needing shoes though...

Babies are def cheap to run actually. And you get extra Tax credits for that first year. I agree with Hunker. My 2.5 year old is my most expensive as her feet grow at a rate of knots.
I am a SAHM juggling the money to make it possible and find this idea very strange. Would you go back to the job after having the baby? It seems not....

Hurrah for my dd's slow growing feet

The biggest expense is childcare. If you are a SAHM, breastfeeding and still have all your old baby stuff, babies are very cheap indeed

Oh yes, extra tax credits and also increased Child Benefit

Yes. I was shocked to get all this extra money the year I least needed it IMO....

broody what it means is you must have been working recently, really. Pregnancy is 40 weeks, 66 weeks period is another 26 weeks or 6 months on top of that iyswim.
So for the 9 months of your pg plus the 6 months before you got pg, you must have worked for 6 months in total during that time. SO you could work for a bit, then not be working, then work again, but as long as you have done 6 months of work during that period of 66 weeks, you get MA.

Does that make sense?

If you are self employed, you have to have paid national insurance for a certain number of weeks before you start claiming your maternity benefit. They have increased the payment time for mat benefit from 6 to 9 months (I think). BUT, mat benefit is taxable (), so do your sums beforehand....

why not just go back to work part-time and earn some money so that money isnt so tight? Seems a bit unfair on an employer to be joining just so you can collect SMP with no intention of staying more than 6 months. it costs a lot of time and money to recruit someone.

If you intend to go self-employed I think you need to earn a minimum level before you get maternity allowance. What would you actually do self employed? But maybe someone else can confirm.