£190 Grant??

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Can someone please tell me what this £190 grant is that i keep hearing about and also the healthy eating grant?
Thanks!!!

My partner is on minimum wage and I don't qualify for any benefits, so the health in pregnancy grant has been a godsend for us. We are using it to buy a lot of second hand stuff for our baby. I agree that you should only apply if you need it. Unlike my friend who used hers to buy a new Radley handbag!

My midwife confirmed today that you needed to be 25 weeks or more, and not simply 'in your 25th week' by January first to get the HIP grant - at 25+1 today (5th jan) I missed it by four bloody days! And as I'm out of work and my partner's struggling across two jobs, we could really have done with it. Sigh, grumble.

It really makes me cringe..For all those moaners, grumbling about the previous government offering a one off payment of £190 to help with up coming baby costs- if you feel uncomfortable with accepting something you don't need, don't fill the form in!?! Take some responsibility for your own morals, if you don't need the money- by-pass the scheme!

Also £190 won't buy an expectant mother hardly anything. The average price of a pram nowadays is £500!!

For most 'average' people starting a family, the scheme was a little helping hand. I personally think it's a shame that it's being phased out- along with the 'nursery in education grant'..most of my local nurseries will no longer be offering this much needed help with fees.

I'm not on benefits and both me and my husband work. However owing to where we live in London and the fact we have chosen to have a mortgage we have very little left at the end of each month. Now we're expecting twins (double the cost which we obviously didn't ask for but are very happy) we don't know how we can afford 2 x car seats, 2 x cots, a twin pram, 2 x high chairs etc. etc. We budgeted for 1 baby but not 2. As a twin mum we get no extra funding, maternity pay/leave etc. So this 190 pound grant will come in VERY useful. What makes my blood boil is us families who chose to work therefore pay taxes, own our own homes and provide a stable family environment i.e. two parents loose out becuase the government consider us to be 'rich' yet our budget for living once bills have been paid is probably less than those on benefits. I would like nothing more than to stay at home and look after my babies but we wouldn't survive on one income and now working tax credits are being phased out we wont qualify for that either (beacause it's based on a combined income yet again if I were I single parent I would get it!). It's simply a case that those at the top are fine and those at the bottom of the scale are looked after but us in the middle get nothing.

I don't originally come from the UK so have been very surprised with all the nice 'freebies' so far (free doctor/midwife appointments, scans, maternity health card). And yes, I know they aren't really free as we pay our NI contributions every month.

The idea of cash payments for new parents make me uncomfortable so I would prefer schemes that helped directly with associated costs like free prenatal vitamins, bus/train tickets for medical appointments, hospital parking vouchers, vouchers for fruit/vege/milk etc.

Also I think the government should consider changing the ways families with preschool children are taxed and offer simple incentives like income splitting so families are able to afford to have a parent stay at home for longer. I think it is cruel that so many families are forced to be separated from their children just as their children reach that 'stranger-anxiety' phase.

FINGERSCROSSED, i would get a form from your midwife, as i thought i couldnt claim, cause i turned 25 weeks on 2nd of jan, but i applied anyway at 24+3 just incase, and ive recieved the 190 today so you will qualify too

Oh, thanks, Beckie, I'll see if I can talk her into handing one over!

You get it if you're due on or before January 1 2011....sometime this month anyways. I'm due in July so no luck for me :( I guess you'd say I am one of the ones who need it but hopefully i can find other sources of financial support

'It's simply a case that those at the top are fine and those at the bottom of the scale are looked after but us in the middle get nothing.'

You'll own a home in London at the end of it. That's certainly worth something.

You said yourself you chose to live there, you chose to take on a mortgage there.

The grant was only introduced in 2009, so I think those who received it will just have to see themselves as being the lucky few who benefited from a blip.

The £500 grant has been around for ages, though the "Sure Start" label on it is new.

Beckie - thanks again; I just called the HIP helpline and I'm eligible for the grant. I'm getting the paperwork from the midwife on Thursday. Phew!

you are welcome fingerscrossed, i just saw what you wrote and thought well shes entitled to it and didnt want you missing out, my midwife originally told me i wouldnt qualify too, but after looking it up and speaking to other women who had been in touch with hmrc, i just went to her and said i think i am, so can i have the form lol

that's what I was thinking spidookly!

So some people think it's an uncessary waste of money yet still claimed it for themselves and also think it shouldn't be offered to antyone on the basis that they personally can do without it? Hmmm.

If you didn't need it, why did you send your form off? You don't have to take everything that's offered you know!

i was gobsmacked that this was available and not means tested... surely f we are having babies we should be able to afford basic goods for our children.

it is scary in a way....

it reminds me of a lady who i know vaguely who told me, when she found out i am expecting, that she was trying again. i dont mean to be judgemental (but i am) but she already has 3 children, neither she nor her husband work and her children are not the healthiest looking (they look lacking invitamins etc). she pointed at her tummy the other day and i found it hard to be joyful...

it is kind of the same arguement, some people do find them inhardship through no fault of their own, but to go into pregnancy without financial means is really short sighted isnt it?

we waited for 3 years because we couldnt afford a 2nd child after oh was made redundant.

i dont know, the whole financial reward/incentive is a tricky one imo..

xx

I think the reason it's not means tested is that it would cost more to adminstrate the means testing than it does just to allow everyone the grant - same reason why child benefit hasn't previously been means tested, and if it wasn't worthwhile for child benefit which is an ongoing cost then definitely not worthwhile for a one off payment.

Not too sure about the argument that having children is the preserve of the well-off to be honest. Fact is, even if you manage ok most of the time, the initial outlay for having a child is a lot, and personally I've been very grateful for receiving the grant. There's an awful to pay out for at a time when you're going to be earning less while on maternity leave. I suspect that 'managing ok' is about the best that an awful lot of people can hope for at the moment.

I'm sitting on the fence with this one...

on the one hand i totally agree that people shouldn't have children if they can't afford to support them - why should they expect hand-outs from other people to pay for their own children? - My husband and i have waited until we owned our own house and are both earning sufficient salaries to me able to support us having a child (and paying for all the paraphernalia that goes with them!) whilst some people (as mentioned by mandy1978) seem to think they can have as many children as they want and the government will house, support and pay for them!

On the other hand, some people do find themselves in the situation of requiring additional funds to support the baby through no fault of their own. and that's obviously when the grants are invaluable...

i do, however, think that the grants should be paid in the form of vouchers - whether that's for food or mothercare etc. to ensure that the money is spent on the baby and not a new radley bag!!

OK... rant over!!

i really dont think its only the right of the well off, kids dont have to cost a fortune and they certainly dont need a lot of material possessions but i do think that you have to be aware of the outlay, reduction in salary. completely agree with the food vouchers or mothercare vouchers.. i do think there should be something but i think it perhaps should have been an application on the discretion of the midwife and definitely means tested.

xx

Hi, not wanting to wade into a debate on the morals of whether it is right or wrong for me to apply for this money but was wondering if anyone could help me clarify if there is any formal reference to being eligible with an EDD of 22nd April. My EDD is 22nd April, so I was 24+1 on 1st Jan 2011, but my midwife is under the impression that I wouldn't qualify as I hadn't reached 25 weeks, although I would technically have been in my 25th week.

The midwife in question was a locum who didn't want to fill in the form if I didn't qualify and just advised me that I need to speak to my usual midwife at my 28 week appointment. It would be helpful to be able to go along with reference to the EDD rather than just the link to the direct gov sight which states reached 25th week which seems to be being interpreted ambiguously.

Thanks

thefurryone im sure you had to be 24+1 on the 31st of december. u had to reach your 25th week before the 1st of jan, thats what ive read anyway, that the cut off was 21st april. but id ring hmrc just to see

Thanks Beckie, will give them a call as have found no consistent advice online about this. I really hope it's not the 21st though, I'm due to get absolutely nothing in the way of maternity pay so this money would be really appreciated.

I'm really glad the HIPS has been scrapped it's a social fund, not a free for all, however, if you are in need and on a low income these other benefits are still active, I've copied the criteria below from the DirectGov website.

You can get a Sure Start Maternity Grant (£500) if you or your partner receive any of the following:
Income Support
income-based Jobseeker's Allowance
income-related Employment and Support Allowance
Pension Credit
Child Tax Credit at a rate higher than the family element
Working Tax Credit where a disability or severe disability element is included in the award
and if one of the following applies to you:
you or your partner are pregnant and expecting a baby within 11 weeks or have given birth within the last three months
you or your partner have adopted a child, or in certain circumstances have been granted a residence order for a child, within the last three months and the child is less than one year old
you and your husband or wife have been granted a parental order for a surrogate birth within the last three months
you or your partner are getting benefit for a dependant under the age of 20 who is pregnant and expecting a baby within 11 weeks or has given birth within the last three months
The term partner is used here to mean:
a person you are married to or a person you live with as if you are married to them, or
a civil partner or a person you live with as if you are civil partners

This is staying although the criteria is yet to change.

The Health in Pregnancy £190 is scrapped.

Healthy Start:
You may qualify if you?re pregnant and/or have at least one child under four years old and your family gets any of the following:
Income Support
income-based Jobseeker's Allowance
Child Tax Credit (but not Working Tax Credit unless your family is receiving Working Tax credit run-on only) with an annual family income of £16,040 or less (for 2009/2010)
Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
or
if you are pregnant and under 18 years old
Please note - Working Tax Credit run-on is the Working Tax Credit you receive in the four weeks immediately after you have stopped working for 16 hours or more per week