As SAHM do I get an allowance when pg?

[lucamom]

Just that really - panicking as (might) be pregnant with baby number 4, currently a SAHM with no income (DH earns, we've lost our CB this year but only just!).

Is there anything I can claim (I don;t qualify for any benefots at present so I'm assuming not, and without an employer I'm guessing there's no SMP).

Thanks for taking the time to read and (hopefully) answer.

I doubt that you would be able to claim for anything, sorry

An increased rate of child tax credit perhaps when dc arrives dependent on income perhaps.... not much though, sorry!

No, afraid not. You need to have been working for 26 out of the last 66 weeks www.gov.uk/maternity-allowance/eligibility

Gosh we'd all be sahm if that were true.

No, sorry you can't claim anything and if you have lost CB it is unlikely you will be eligible for any tax credits either.

If you have lost your CB this year, I guess this means your DH earns over £60k a year (or your children are grown up). If this is the case then I doubt your will be entitled to anything. To most people this is a very significant income.

Being a SAHM is a lifestyle choice you have made, if you cannot support your family on DH earning alone maybe you should consider if you can really afford to make that lifestyle choice. If you are struggling financially you either need to make cut backs elsewhere or consider going out to work (although that might be very difficult now you're pregnant). You can't expect others to support you financially to stay at home with your family.

I would love to stay at home with my son but simply can't afford it, and have been saving for years to afford a second child, it's part of the decision making when planning a famh unfortunately.

do you pay class 2 National Insurance Contributions? Because if you do, I think you are automatically eligible.

Thanks all, it's as I thought but thought it worth an ask just in case!

Thanks also for the lecture pizzaqueen. I think you misread the thread title - it's not "AIBU to keep having children that we actually can afford, but to ask in the meantime whether I qualify for maternity assistance?".

Not that I have to justify it, but if I am pregnant again we will struggle (as we currently do), but will find a way to afford it. In the 6 years since we first had children, we have received nothing other than child benefit so please re-direct your bitterness elsewhere. Our 'lifestyle' is paid for by us. My only 'crime' here is asking a question, I don't think I asked for or deserved to be judged for even asking.

Hi OP.

I have been sahm for 20 odd years and always got Mat allowance it was paid as SSP though as obviously not got an employer. I also got the mat grant etc, but we are low income.
If you have been paying voluntary NI you should automatically qualify, although its not a fortune.

Pizzaqueen

Affordability was not part of decision making for us. If you don't earn enough the state pay and have pretty much done so for some time now.
you don't have to expect others to pay for you

If you really want to be a sahm, why don't you just do it. I can promise you it isn't a luxury.

Well said potatoprints

pizzaqueen we couldn't have afforded for me to be a SAHM in our previous life so we moved to the other side of the country, stopped buying any luxuries (including branded food, new clothes, using the car unless absolutely necessary) and now live on a very strict budget. It is possible to make these changes and have a very happy life if you choose to - by the way we are expecting our second child a year and a half after the first and can afford to do so. If a SAHM were to criticise a working mum's choice, she'd be set upon - please remember this should be a two-way street. (For the record I think working mums are incredible too).

OP - unless you do the NI thing (I don't) I don't think you'd qualify. Do check a tax credit calculator though. (No, we don't receive tax credits just in case that becomes a discussion point too).

Sorry for the high jack rant, but we get enough "lay about" comments from the government and one media outlets - don't need it from other mums as well.

The OP came across to me 'I'm pregnant now what can I claim?' I wasn't criticising anyone's choice to be a SAHM at all, thats personal choice. i just feel very strongly it should only happen when your family can support itself and not rely on being able to claim anything elsewhere (and this applies to working families too: people should only have children if you can afford to keep them without 'claiming').

Unfortunately it's not an option for us and it won't be an option for many families. Numbertwodue, we already have cut back on luxuries etc, and live in a relatively cheap part of the country, i work part time, there are no other savings to make. I am also the higher warmer so if we did have the option for one of us to stay at home it would be my DP.

I claimed maternity allowance during my pregnancy as I had moved house so left previous employer and was doing agency work. Having paid NI contributions was not enough - I was required to fill in a form detailing dates of work and supply a certain number of payslips to prove that I had completed the required number of weeks (doesn't have to be full weeks - one day a week is sufficient). There is also a minimum earning requirement and if you are earning on average less than about £130 a week then the amount you receive is reduced.
If you are self employed and paying NI contributions then you can claim MA or if you have a small earnings exemption certificate.

I don't think she come across that way at all, she may be pregnant and was simply asking a question as obviously she hasn't been in that position before, and wanted some Help, thats how it comes across to me.

Lots of familys get tax credits I.e child tax, working tax, is this seen as "claiming" to you? Some familys are lucky enough to have well paid jobs while others arnt, tax credits are in place to Help. the OP has stated they don't get CB either which the majority of people do so I think its very unfair to jump down her throat as its not like she's claiming everything going and wants more.

Also life is not so simple and straight forward as to say, if you want a child save for one first. Totally unexpected things happen in life, like falling pregnant against the odds or been on birth control, if that happens in "un ideal" circumstances to you, what would you suggest to do then? It would be amazing if life turned out exactly how people wanted it to be, but unfortunaty it doesn't.