Lack of help from Government

[Applepiesky]

Need to have a bit of a rant!
I work full time, my partner works part time (he would love to have full time hours but none available at the moment) and we have a mortgage, and consider ourselves very lucky to have one as I know many people don't.
I'm really really worried about how we are going to be able to pay our mortgage/bills/afford to live once baby comes in December.
I believe I only get 6wks full pay from work and then straight on to SMP. this literally will not even come close to touching our mortgage/bills payments, even taking DPs wages into consideration, let alone be enough to feed and clothe a newborn baby!
So why is it that people on benefits are entitled to a one off grant of £500 towards child costs and also non-home owners get help with rent? It really really annoys me that us hard working citizens are the forgotten ones and I am starting to shit myself at the thought of not being able to pay my mortgage :-(

it can be hard and scary for anyone whether working or in benefits to cope financially. my partner is a fireman and has been for 11 years his oay is quite low and future uncertain . I am the high earner out of us both. I am only taking 6 months maternity I wish i could take longer however financially its not possible and as much as it will be hard and upsetting I dont want the financial strain in our family to be much less. we planned for over a year before getting pregnant and I have been cuttinf back and saving hard for a year in order to supplement when im on maternity. I know it will be hard and probably can I only afford one child. we have made sacrifices but I do consider myself very fortunate.

But... the government gives us Child benefit, tax credits, SMP and legal protection on maternity leave, SPP, free prescriptions and dental care, subsidised child care through tax credits or the childcare vouchers scheme.

SMP is amazing - the government pays you not to work for 9 months, just because you have had a baby.

Yes, life is unfair, there is always a cut off point. With DS he arrived just after the government made all the cuts, so if he had been born 6 months earlier we would have been about £2k better off that year. Its shit. But life is a whole lot more shit if you are on benefits, and was worse than that if you live in one of the many countries (including I believe the US) who do little or nothing to support new parents.

Have you looked at how much you will be entitled to in child tax credits? Probably a good amount if you are reliant on only a part time salary for much of the year.

Agree with munchkinjess. I'm only having a few months off with my first despite both me and dh working full time. I am aware this is going to be really hard and don't want to do it, but unfortunately I'm in an industry which doesn't give any additional mat pay so financially more would be difficult plus I'll do much better in my career overall by not taking 9 months/a year off and so am trying to think of this as being better for us all in the long term.

The OP is entitled to feel that it's going to be hard for her, just as many of us feel despite our circumstances. It's easy to feel that the grass is greener, currently I'm quite jealous of people in cushy jobs with great mat packages that can take a year off, and also people who are on benefits, mainly because they will get to spend the precious time with their little one that I'll miss out on. Yes this might be irrational, but surely everybody has moments of thinking the grass is greener elsewhere and placing more emphasis on the negatives in our lives rather than the positives (and I'm aware that there are many in my situation, just difficult to focus on atm). Really don't think the OP meant to cause any offence!

Op you need to check with the tax credits place to see ifyyou will be entitled to help. On a part time wage and a baby you may be surprised.

With regards to your other comments after 7 years in the private rented sector I can assure you that if we needed to claim hb to cover the rent we would be struggling as much as you.

We can't get on the housing ladder as both me and dp are self employed so are paying double every month what it would cost to buy the property we live in.

I'm also due in December and despite us being on a reasonable amount of income at the moment I will be working until the baby comes and then as long as things go to plan will continue to work from home once the baby is a couple of weeks old.

I don't grumble about anyone fortunate enough to have any maternity leave. My choice to be self employed.

Most of my stuff is hand me downs from friends and family. You can spend as much or as little as you like on baby stuff. And for the first few years they don't actually cost a great deal anyway if you are sensible.

Don't stress. Enjoy your pregnancy and be realistic. You would be surprised when the baby arrives at how little they actually need!

I live overseas in a country with no welfare state. We are allowed 45 days maternity leave.

If you are lucky enough to negotiate more time off, it is unpaid. Completely unpaid.

We knew this, have saved accordingly, and have to foot all bills ourselves.

Completely different mindset to the UK and I'm watching this with interest.

Yikes I thought these forums were for support! Some serious venom spitting. How sad. I think the cost of living now makes it pretty crap for us all! We are So lucky to be pregnant at all. We totally struggled to conceive and yes financially it's not looking great. But I couldn't be happier. If you've never been to infertility forums give that a go. May put things into perspective.

The government support is for the baby, not the mother. Because all the evidence shows that it makes a difference. If you give poor people money, fewer children starve.

I'd rather live in a country that gave money to the feckless and the lazy, than one where children are punished for the lack of success of their parents.

Can't you claim tax credits?