SAHM benefits?

[thelma57]

Hi all, I’m looking for some feedback from anyone who has chosen not to go back to work after maternity leave and what that looked like for you?

Also, what benefits financially would I be entitled to with a husband who works full time but earns under 50k? Is there a form or something I can fill out to check?

I’ve previously been looking at going back part time but I think I might be better off not going back and not having to pay for childcare!

I would then be looking to go back to work once DD was in education but I’m undecided atm!

Thanks!

The threshold for benefits is quite low. I doubt you would be entitled to anything if your blokes on 50k. Child benefit maybe. There's an entitled to calculator online if you want to check.

I expect only child benefit which surely you're claiming already. Do consider you will lose out on pension contributions, so you should be paying into a pension out of your household income. You will also keep your hand in career wise, otherwise you are losing out whilst your DH gets to progress.

Depends on if you rent, how many kids, how much under 50k. Once your child is 1 you’d be expected to start preparing to look for work if on UC. Use entitled to to have a look.

Thanks all, will have a look at an online calculator. I think the cost of childcare has put the fear in me as I might end up working for nothing (I have a good job but not a career minded person really).

So just exploring options, it may be that we can’t afford to take the hit anyway.

You should already be claiming child benefit, and keep doing it even if your DH ends up earning more than £50k because even though he will have to pay the £ back, it is the only way you get NIC credits towards your state pension as if you were working full time. The NIC credits stop when the youngest child turns 12. The advice to do additional pension contributions is wise because State pension is not enough to live on, so your DH should be funding a private pension with the same £/mo that goes into his workplace pension.

There aren’t really any financial benefits to being a SAHM, it is a financial sacrifice in the long run.

The benefits are more to family life and to your DH as he can progress further in his career because you will be doing 90% of the childcare. If you both worked, both of you would be juggling work and childcare and that would hamper both of you equally career wise (presuming your DH is up to be an equal coparent and not a sexist man who thinks it’s all your job even if you work too).

There aren't any benefits beyond child benefit. But obviously you save on childcare costs & then you can access a certain number of hours when the child turns 3 (sort of free school nursery hours if that's offered in your area).

Make sure that the child benefit claim is in your name and not your partners. It gives the person claiming NI contributions so as the non-earning parent you need them as your partner will get them through his employment.

If you are married or in a civil partnership you can donate a proportion of your tax free allowance to your partner it will adjust his tax code. I can't remember the logistics but my mum and dad did this when she took early retirement to become a carer for my grandparents.

Make sure you have some financial security and have enough savings accessible to leave if needed. Women can become vulnerable to staying in relationships they would like to leave when they don't have an income. If not the savings are always a benefit!!

We tag teamed to save on childcare. I worked opposite hours to dh, is this an option for you.

Is it working for nothing though? It's a short term thing for long term benefits. You keep in the workplace, keep paying for pensions and whatnot and kids grow up so childcare isn't forever

Also childcare is a shared expense, not just on you

We get Universal Credit of about £15 a week and DH is on £45k. We have 2 dc and I get PIP and child benefit too. It doesn't replace a wage but it all helps. Just use a benefit calculator online. I prefer not to work while the dcs are young as I can give them more individual attention, and I probably won't return to work with my health issues. My eldest attends nursery so I have time to focus on my baby.

Always always always considered it as part of the family budget.

There are benefits to working beyond wages and this way of thinking can put more of the emphasis on women working to fund the childcare both parents work to fund half child care or shopping or mortgage/rent each.

We have a spreadsheet with the take home pay for both of us and all of our outgoings and look at it from a global picture about what we can afford to do. I work 4 days a week and earn a little less than my partner. I pay 45% of our monthly outgoings into our joint account and my partner pays the other 55%. Having the days at work makes me a better mother. Having the day at home with my daughter makes me better at my job. I get being scared of childcare costs they are a bit daunting but have a serious think about how much or little work and time with your child is a benefit for you and your family. There is no one solution that's right for everyone but look at it from a global pov not just your wages/child care costs comparison

This! Childcare isn't all out of your income.

I work three days a week for little money after childcare fees.
I don't have a job with job progression but it got me out of the house, talking to adults and kept me mentally sane!
Looking after small children is hard work and it was nice to be me for a few hours a week.
It also meant I had a bit of money for myself that I could buy stuff I didn't really need so wouldn't have asked husband for money for it or go for a hot chocolate date with my child when I liked without having to worry about it - it was my money I could do what I liked!

Lots of people bad at maths will tell you childcare should be split 50/50 like this magically makes your family's childcare bill halve itself.

Obviously, like everyone else who ever asks this question on MN, you're looking at net gain/loss, not what you individually have to pay out to go to work, because you're looking at family finances as a whole and what the benefits/cost are to you going back to work specifically vs being the main caregiver for the child/ren.

Looking in those terms, though, you are still better off working, at least part time. You will get your pension paid into and build up your national insurance record for state pension (if it even exists still by the time we retire lol). It will also make it easier to apply for a mortgage than doing it on one income, if you need to move house. It also means you will qualify for full free childcare when your child is old enough.

Working also gives you the work experience you will need to progress upwards into the next level in a career, meaning you could be earning more in 5 years time than if you're trying to re-enter the workforce at that point.

What sort of job are you in? Can you take extended maternity for up to 12 months and see how you go financially? Can you start any businesses from home?

What I did after DC1 was I was self-employed and running a small business alongside having him. I didn't go back to work until DC2 was 1. If you pay NI contributions for your small business you still qualify for maternity allowance (a state benefit that is roughly worth the same amount as SMP) which will make a huge difference for any subsequent pregnancies.

When not working you would have had to ask your husband if you could get you and your child a hot chocolate?!

Will your employer let you go part time?

If so you'd be mad to leave even if you don't make much after child care

Getting a decent part time job is hard. Much easier to reduce hours in one you already have.

With childcare it's usually better to do fewer but longer days.

It's not necessary the hot chocolate but how often as it soon adds up. Also things like days out and soft play all add up with one person paying for everything. So I like being able to do what I want without checking we have enough money. As I know the life money is sorted and mine is for fun!
(lot's of people disagree with this set up but works for us)

This is a good sane post

OP you aren’t going to get anything apart from child benefit which I’d imagine you’d get if you went back to work anyway

Being a SAHM when 50k is the household income is miserable. People will say that they managed, but it leaves very little wiggle room for treats and increases in fixed costs. Your husband isn’t likely to be in the position to save or pay your pension contributions for you on this wage either, which is a consideration.

In your boat, if you want to be at home with your child, I would be negotiating part time and your husband should be putting in a flexible working request for 4 condensed days for him to do a day of childcare too.

I’m broadly a SAHM, but use childcare for around 12 hours a week, sometimes less for some freelance work I do. But I have my
national insurance contributions paid by my husband and we are still very comfortable even with one income.

I’d be doing what the poster quoted describes if that was not the case.

How much under 50k?

25k very different to 49k for example.

I'm a SAHM and we get child benefit, tax credits, dla and carers allowance but that's because we have a disabled child, I'm assuming you don't?

Theres loads of online calculators you can put your details in and it gives you an estimate.

It's the psychological differences that you get nothing at the end of the day as it all goes on childcare.
If all of your salary goes on childcare and the father pays for all the household bills but he has £200 left. He gets £200 but you are left with nothing.
If it is all shared there is £200 left in the pot at the end of the month £100 each and now you have something to show for your work even though all the costs and amounts are the same.

Why should the taxpayer (including other working mums) pay for you to stay at home with your kids when they don’t get to?

As you have a DH who earns a decent amount, you should be looking at this from a different viewpoint. Total up your combined salary, then childcare comes out of that. Just because you gave birth doesn’t mean you should pay for childcare out of your salary, lose out on pension contributions at be stuck at home with just a baby for company.

But that’s fundamentally flawed because in the first scenario, the woman shouldn’t be ‘left with nothing’- because they have DC and income is family income.

even with the second scenario of ‘splitting costs’, you describing a situation where people are acting like solo financial entities, which is what leads to financially abusive situation when the man earns more. If Dave earns £50k and Sarah earns £38k and they don’t share finances, Dave is still much better off with 50/50 ‘splitting costs’

Please do the above to protect your state pension. I was a SAHM for years, when exH and I split up he waltzed off with plenty of cash and a huge wage every year that he’d been able to earn because of all the childcare I’d provided. I walked away with next to nothing. Had I lost my state pension too I’d be even more screwed in my old age.
If my dd were in your shoes I’d be begging her not to go full SAHM because of the above. I never ever dreamed I’d be in this position financially. Even good marriages go wrong.