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Pregnancy

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Original poster

What benefits am i entitled to, if any?

49 replies

Flower088 · 08/01/2018 17:53

Hi everyone,

This is my first time posting and been following this forum since i found out i was pregnant.

I am currently 30 weeks pregnant and due to go on maternity leave 2nd March. My baby is due 16th March.

Ive been off from work for 3 months (sept till nov) due to hyperemesis and only received two weeks full sick pay.

I have been with my employer for 13 months and therefore i am only entitled to 6 weeks 90 percent of average earnings and then £140 a week.

Dont know whether you need to know but my salary is 37k and my husbands is 18k.

Being off work, we have struggled alot financially.

When i go off on mat leave, i will have a significant loss of earnings. I am not sure what i am entitled to in terms of benefits? This is my first child.

I rang CAB this morning and the lady i spoke to was quite sketchy but she goes i might be entitled to child and working tax credits, child benefit and sure start grant but not to apply until the birth of my baby as thats when i will have a significant drop in income otherwise if i apply now, i wont be entitled to anything as the benefits people will go on my income from last year.

Im confused, please help.

Thank you in advance!

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happymumof4crazykids · 08/01/2018 20:36

You will get an application for child benefit in a pack in hospital after you've had the baby. There should be a leaflet about tax credits too. You would not be able to apply for either until you have had the baby and registered the birth. Tax credit are paid on your previous years income so for the time you are off you would probably not be entitled. Next year you probably would and then the year after have to pay it back as you would be overpaid! It's a crap system tbh. If you are in an area with universal credit you would apply for that after giving birth. This would probably be better for you as they take it month by month to calculate your benefits and you would probably be entitled to some money during your maternity leave.

Potteryprincess30 · 08/01/2018 22:47

I honestly can't believe your combined earnings are nearly 60,000 a year and you think you'd be entitled to benefits. . You also do not go to the job center to apply, it is not the 90s. You just ring them (tax credits) but you 100% will not be entitled to anything. Just do what everyone else says and share leave with husband

Sunshinegirl82 · 09/01/2018 09:20

Do you own your house OP? Can you remortgage to release some equity? Or take a break from your mortgage payments (sometimes if you have overpaid in the past the lender will allow this but it depends on your particular agreement) or move to interest only in the short term?

I know £60k sounds like a lot but if you already have commitments and live in an expensive area I know it can disappear very quickly! That said, it wouldn't hurt to go through your statements and cancel anything that isn't absolutely essential right now.

Good luck!

mindutopia · 09/01/2018 09:51

I don't think you would be eligible for anything unfortunately, other than child benefit, which everyone who has a child gets (well, to a point). You have a good household income and there is no reason you can't survive on that. It just means you have to go back to work, just like many people do when they can't afford to live on SMP. The benefits system is there to support people who need to be at home because they can't work, but you will be able to work after baby arrives, even if you've been sick now.

My dh and I were in a similar position when we had our first (though I didn't make 37K a year). He was on about 18K a year as a graduate job and I was a student and working part-time (a postgraduate one, I was getting my PhD, not like in uni). We weren't entitled to anything other than child benefit and I didn't even get SMP (just maternity allowance as I was self-employed doing consulting). We reduced our expenses and lived as frugally as we could so I could stay at home for a year, and my dh increased his earnings (left his job and started his own business when our dd was 3 months old, which led to a higher income over the course of the year). Taking a second job is an option as well. Like others have said, if you need to go back to work, it may make more sense for your partner to be at home doing the child care if he isn't able to find a higher paying job, as nursery costs will probably almost equal his salary depending on where you live. As the lower earner of the two of us, I stayed home and only started back part-time and then full-time when it made sense financially in terms of childcare.

TammySwansonTwo · 09/01/2018 10:46

I'm not sure why people are getting so hung up on OP's salary since she won't be getting that while she's on mat leave. If someone is on SMP then for tax credit purposes their income is £40 a week plus whatever their partner gets, since the first £100 a week is disregarded as income.

Mummyme87 · 09/01/2018 10:50

Just to those who keep saying everyone is entitled to child benefit... this is incorrect. If anyone in your household earns over £50k annually you are not entitled. A flawed system in my view. So you and your partner could both earn £49k each (£98k annually and be entitled to child benefit. Or one of you could earn £51k and the other £10k (£61k) and not be entitled. We have a joint income of £94k and are not entitled as OH earns over £50k, and we are financially okay, but far from loaded. Living in London, mortgage of £1500, childcare, car and commuting... it’s an expensive game.

Back to OP. You’re will get child benefit definitely but not sure much else. Don’t know what cut off is for working tax credit.

PersianCatLady · 09/01/2018 10:55

Without the exact figures, it is hard to give an accurate answer, have you tried the benefits calculators -

www.entitledto.co.uk/

benefits-calculator.turn2us.org.uk/AboutYou

Original poster

Flower088 · 09/01/2018 11:10

Can i just say 37k sounds like alot but when youve spent so much money already trying to get yourself a better education,that in itself cost alot of money. Im up to my eyeballs in debt trying to pay off my masters. I have a company car too so a fair amount of money comes out from my wages from that. I never thought id br able to concieve and yet i have this little miracle in me. I just wanted some advice not people to be sarcastic. My husband only started his job in August other than that he wad on 13k. We only just got married in july and only just started to live together. Hes trying and working all hours to pay off the wedding debt. I wasnt very well at the end of our honeymoon but even though i went hospital and doctors all my pregnancy tests came back negative for a while. My husband and i then decided to buy a house together from the money i had spare and put a deposit down on a brand new build... and now we obviously cant back out. Our house is almost done.

OP posts:

Original poster

Flower088 · 09/01/2018 11:11

Thank you everyone anyhow, i do appreciate your advice

OP posts:

Sunshinegirl82 · 09/01/2018 11:16

I get it OP, it's not a lot when you already have commitments.

Do you own a house already? Can you do any rejigging with the mortgage to leave you with some cash to tide you over?

SleepFreeZone · 09/01/2018 11:17

Congratulations Flower you will get through this 🤗

I assume you don't have any family that might be able to help out with childcare down the line?

Sunshinegirl82 · 09/01/2018 11:19

If you don't own your current house can you give up your rental early and stay with family for a couple of months to save some money?

nornironlady · 09/01/2018 11:24

Get online to the calculators, saves on all the conflicting info as all of our circumstances are different.

nousername123 · 09/01/2018 11:25

When you're only getting statutory maternity pay you might get income support until you go back to work but I think it's all linked with universal credit. You'll definitely get about £80 every 4 weeks for child benefit when the baby is born. Best sign up now as universal credit can take up to 14 weeks depending on your area x

Buxbaum · 09/01/2018 11:32

I'm not sure why people are getting so hung up on OP's salary since she won't be getting that while she's on mat leave.

She will if she returns to work sooner and shares parental leave with her DH. I really think this is the ideal option, but you will need to check carefully if this is an option with his employer. He will need to have been with his employer for a min of 26 weeks by the end of week 25 of your pregnancy so if he started in August he won't qualify. Some employers are more generous in their guidance, however.

Otherwise, OP, I think you may need to accept that you may need to take a shorter maternity leave than you would ideally like.

gamerchick · 09/01/2018 11:45

To me it doesn’t sound as if you can afford to take a lot of time off. It doesn’t matter about the whys and where’s and miracles and what not, it’s whats written down on paper that’s taken into account.

It’s likely that you’ll have to go back to work and your partner take the time off to care for the baby. Or you’ll have to muddle through.

TittyGolightly · 09/01/2018 12:14

Hes trying and working all hours to pay off the wedding debt

If you’re up to your eyeballs in debt already, why on earth would you get into more debt for a wedding?

PersianCatLady · 09/01/2018 12:25

I have paid so much in the tax system and its heartbreaking to learn when i need some money back that i cant have any
If you are entitled to it then you will be able to get it, the same as anybody else.

You need to go to the CAB and ask them to do a proper accurate calculation on your finances, one up to the birth and one after the birth.

Even if you are entitled to the full rate of CTC, that is only about £65 a week without childcare.

From the sketchy information here I am not sure that you will be entitled to the full amount.

You should be entitled to CB of about £20 a week and maybe also WTC.

Then again, are you in a Universal Credit area??

As much as anybody here wants to help you, it really is impossible to give you any accurate figures without all of your financial information.

Also, the fact that you have debts does not mean that you will be entitled to more money and quite often people are surprised at just how little benefits money is.

PersianCatLady · 09/01/2018 12:28

When you're only getting statutory maternity pay you might get income support
She won't be entitled to IS as SMP is more than IS.

HollyBollyBooBoo · 09/01/2018 12:30

You won't be entitled to anything unfortunately- other than child benefit of course. I'm slightly surprised that you think you would be on that sort of salary!

There are lots of online calculators that will work this out for you.

It's a rubbish situation but it sounds like you won't be able to have a very long mat leave and need to get back to work ASAP.

What will your childcare arrangements be? It might be worth registering for childcare vouchers now (if you can before the baby is born?) from work and starting to build that pot up.

PersianCatLady · 09/01/2018 12:33

You won't be entitled to anything unfortunately- other than child benefit of course
It all depends on her circumstances at the time, what if she doesn't go back to her job??

honeysucklejasmine · 09/01/2018 12:35

It does suck. I only got SMA first time (self employed) and absolutely nothing this time, as I didn't go back to work. But that's life. We wanted kids, despite knowing this. We get by. I'd rather not qualify for benefits because of my husband's salary than qualify, iyswim. Needing benefits to get by can be soul destroying.

beachbodyunready · 09/01/2018 12:58

Op just be aware that depending on where you live you might have to apply for Universal Credit rather than tax credits.

HollyBollyBooBoo · 09/01/2018 18:31

Yes fair point. I assumed she was going back to work. Not sure if the situation would be better if she resigned?

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