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Original poster

Maternity pay!

67 replies

MetallicInk · 12/03/2015 12:26

Is anyone else shocked at how low statuary maternity pay is? After the initial 6 weeks to drop to £138 a week is a massive drop in income for us.

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youlemming · 12/03/2015 20:17

This is taken directly from the gov.uk website section on Maternity Pay and Leave

*Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) is paid for up to 39 weeks. You get:
90% of your average weekly earnings (before tax) for the first 6 weeks
138.18 or 90% of your average weekly earnings (whichever is lower) for the next 33 weeks

SMP is paid in the same way as your wages (eg monthly or weekly). Tax and National Insurance will be deducted*

From what I remember from having my first baby it is deducted monthly just as it would be in any usual pay slip.

Sanch1 · 13/03/2015 06:10

My enhanced maternity pay and then SMP was taxed in the normal way from June to Feb when I was off, I then got rebates in March and April.

DoctorDonnaNoble · 13/03/2015 06:25

Another public sector worker who won't be getting 6 months full pay. Who are these people? MPs?

FishWithABicycle · 13/03/2015 06:49

I think civil servants get a very good maternity package.

I agree SMP is very low, but it is not far off being DOUBLE the amount of jobseeker's allowance which is 79ish(? Can't check on this phone without losing this page) per week - and people who unexpectedly lose their jobs also have mortgages, bills etc and are unlikely to be able to cope.

If SMP were increased on account of how low it is, I rather think other benefits would also have to go up and that might be a bit unaffordable.

Tiredemma · 13/03/2015 06:51

Im NHS and I have to say that my Maternity Package was quite reasonable. With annual leave accrual I had 9 months off with good pay that didnt impact too much on home finances.

ditzzy · 13/03/2015 07:41

DoctorDonna - Dsis is a civil servant! My comment really wasn't intended as a dig at the public sector, just my amusement at her personal assumption that everyone got more than the statutory. I could equally well have insulted her personal political beliefs that are pretty much polar opposites to my own as well...

I think anyone who gets any form of enhanced package, even if they think it's less than others are getting (or have got in the past) should consider themselves lucky. They should also not judge those of us who will have to put our babies into childcare at early ages because of the pay situation (which I see an awful lot of on mn).

All that said, I also know my general day to day pay package has been much higher than Dsis's for all my working life, so all's fair in the long run. We make our choices, and enjoy our very different lives Grin

trilbydoll · 13/03/2015 07:51

I don't think we do so badly, I know it isn't a huge amount but it is something for 9m which is quite a long time.

I know comparing to other countries doesn't really prove anything but Mexico get 2w full pay. I'd rather have our SMP!

I am probably feeling more positive because my employer has to pay my childcare vouchers for my second mat leave. That £243 makes a big difference.

lexyloub · 13/03/2015 08:06

Depending what your oh earns you may be entitled to tax credits they don't take into account the first £100 of smp so technically they use an income for yourself as £38 a week. I don't usually get any tax credits but will be entitled when I go to smp. ( I also only get 6wks 90% then rest smp). You'll also get child benefit too which isn't a lot but every little helps.

avocadotoast · 13/03/2015 08:40

Koala, if you're going on mat leave in May then you shouldn't get taxed - surely it's too close to the start of the tax year? (Unless of course you normally earn £10k a month.)

I'm going on leave in April so I figure I shouldn't get taxed as I won't have earned over £10k that tax year.

Bogal · 13/03/2015 10:17

I work for the public sector too and just looked it up - I'll get about 4 months maternity allowance and about 3/4's of that is half pay. I was hoping to take about 9 months but that's looking like a pipe dream now!

Original poster
MetallicInk · 13/03/2015 10:46

I'm glad it's not me that thinks it's shocking!
I think I might need to speak to citizens advise and get some ideas as to how to manage it. I'm not sure how the thing about trading some of my maternity to my oh because it would be a lesser drop to his wages. Also not sure about working tax credits and child benefit. Can you tell it's our firstWink
Xx

OP posts:
Choccyhobnob · 13/03/2015 13:33

I thought we got 6 weeks at 90% then statutory but found out we also get 12 weeks at 50% if we go back to work for 6 months afterwards. At first I thought brilliant! But actually when I weigh it up with travel to work (£400 a month) plus childcare and the thought of being away from my baby for 12 hours a day for 6 months before I can leave to get a job closer to home (for about 50% of the pay...) it suddenly doesn't seem worth the extra money for 3 months....

Focusfocus · 13/03/2015 13:48

I am a university lecturer and I will get 2 months full pay, followed by 4 months on half-pay PLUS statutory maternity pay which amounts to about 75% of full play. So that's a comfortable first six months. After that it's just smp at which point I plan to rejoin work anyway. They also do childcare vouchers on the gross salary and that involves tax savings and my DH gets the same as well which will cover our childcare needs. From my observations this is quite comfy but having said that I do know some in other sectors who are better off! But then when I look at the USA I think we are loads better off. But then if you look at scandenavian countries or canada, they've got a whole year of full paid leave and fantastic paternity leave as well.

Sundaysmumisfullofwine · 13/03/2015 14:59

For DS we saved every penny we could while pregnant (and while TTC) to supplement the drop to SMP. It's worth taking a serious look at outgoings now to see what can be cut, and also to get used to living on less/minimum.

ThinkIveBeenHacked · 13/03/2015 15:02

It is awful.

I think we should be entitled to Minimum Wage at our contracted hours for a minimum of six months.

Koalafications · 13/03/2015 19:30

avocadotoast I'm starting my 'maternity leave' in May but using annual leave until a bit into June, at which point proper mayernity pay will kick in. By that point I will have exceeded the £10,000.

houghtonk76 · 14/03/2015 07:33

I also work for a uni and will have 18 weeks full pay & 21 on SMP. Then you can have 13 weeks unpaid leave - we can't afford that so I'm going back after 39 weeks (4th Jan as starting Mat Leave 23rd March), def worried about paying rent & bills in last 21 weeks as salary will drop to 3rd of normal size approx. so am planning to apply for universal credit as hubby earns approx. 23k as teacher. Sincerely hope I won't be taxed on £138 per week as approx. what £552 & thought tax threshold 10k? Baby due on 1st April, so would've thought as tax year starts 5th April my actual income would mean couldn't tax it, but of course the buggers prob base tax on 2014-2015 tax, even though who can manage to save these days? All of last year's income went on paying our rent, bills, food & travelling to work!

houghtonk76 · 14/03/2015 07:43
  • £552 a month
  • 2014-2015 tax year
prettywhiteguitar · 14/03/2015 07:57

Yes it's a bit of a shock going from my pay to a third of it weekly ! But I had factor this in when thinking about the baby. The actual child doesn't cost you a lot it's in lost earnings, this is why I get cross when people like my mother bang on about her never working, life must have been a hell of a lot cheaper to live on one wage which is almost half of what dp earns !

misseskimo · 14/03/2015 09:23

Yes! Really struggling with the idea of it atm! I get standard SMP at my work, no extras, don't go on leave till mid June either and as I'm on quite a good salary usually I will get taxed still as will go over allowance threshold over the year Sad

I originally wanted to do a years leave, but only doing 9m now as cant afford it. I'm the chief income earner in my house, DH is on almost £15k less than me plus he spends a qtr of that on travel Sad so we're looking at a loan to cover us whilst I'm on leave just to pay our bills! When I mentioned this to the HMRC the other week, i.e. That I thought it was disgusting that as a person who's worked hard to get a good job and earn decent money, I'm now having to put myself about £5k in debt just to afford to have 9m off with my baby! I would be perfectly happy to give up any benefits once going back to work, but would have expected more help than £138 a week from the government which is still tax & ni applicable after the amount I pay to them each month... She actually told me to leave my job and become a ftm as I would actually earn more doing this and get to spend more time with my baby! I was disgusted! We looked at DH leaving and being a ftd, but I still earn over the threshold for receiving benefits, so we would only be better off if I left which I don't want to do Sad x

Christelle2207 · 14/03/2015 09:39

Yes it's shit. Especially when you make friends with other mums who get significantly more than you.
I'm in the extremely fortunate situation of having a dh who earns enough to pay the mortgage and bills and food shops with his salary. So the smp will basically be for me and baby. But I'm unsure how we are expected to cope if we need to properly support ourselves, especially low earners that would lose virtually all their earnings on childcare if they went back to work.

AKnickerfulOfMenace · 14/03/2015 09:40

Miss, if you earn more, your DH could take APL for some of the period.

Houghton, if you are on full pay for 18 weeks at the start of the tax year, I think HMRC will continue to tax you as if you were going to earn that all year. Depending on what you earn, you may have used your whole tax free allowance before SMP starts.

If you contact HMRC, you might be able to get an adjustment, I'm not sure.

gallicgirl · 14/03/2015 09:47

For those of you who own your homes, it's worth talking to your mortgage provider to see if you can take a holiday from your mortgage repayments. Even if you can reduce payments, it will help budgeting.

Bogal · 14/03/2015 10:43

I've just been on the gov.uk maternity calculator (www.gov.uk/maternity-paternity-calculator) and it's not all doom and gloom - although it's a lot less to receive each month than full time employment, cutting out a few expenses and tightening our belts a bit should leave us afloat. Now I'm stressing about the cost of childcare whilst going back to work part time which leaves us worse off again!! So much to think about...

LIG1979 · 14/03/2015 17:24

Last time I was on maternity leave they gave me some of the tax back once I went onto smp. I assume that is because I paid too much earlier in the year.