Advice wanted - pregnant and partner is a mature student

[WhatALearningCurve]

So I'm 30 and about 8 weeks pregnant with my first child. I work full time on a decent but not excellent salary. My partner is 32 and returned to university last year to retrain as a physiotherapist so by the time I'm due in March he'll be about half way through his 3 year course.

Can anyone offer advice as to what financial assistance will be available to us? (Based in the NW of England)

I've looked online at the .gov website but there's no option for mature student partner and I'm just coming up clueless.

He does currently work part time but realistically this won't continue due to course placements becoming longer.

He is going to speak to student finance however we're aware that this may not alter until his next application for the 2019-2020 academic year. He'll also be speaking to his university advisors when he goes back in September.

I've tried looking online but everything seems to be from the viewpoint that I'm the student as the pregnant one.

I just wondered if anyone else on here had been through this and could offer solid advice on their experience?

Thank you!

I've not got any direct experience but I think financial support is going to be fairly limited.

Are there any local baby charities in your area? In Surrey we've got a great charity that helps you to apply for benefits and also will provide clothes, nappies, pushchairs etc if you need support.

@TheWanderlust hi, it's not so much that financial assistance is a necessity so wouldn't feel right using charity shops, just wondering what is entitled (if anything) and where to find this information. For example I knew that I'll get assistance with tax credits etc.

I feel like I now sound full scrounger! I promise this isn't the case, it's just curiosity. Before going back to university DP worked for the same company for 12 years so everything would have been relatively straightforward but now this is a mega unknown!

Student union will have info as should be similar for any student pregnancy. I'd imagine though that he will struggle to get time or paternity pay. Is taking a year out and increasing his shifts an option then return to study the following Sept? Could then split your maternity leave if you're the higher earner

I don't think he gets much; as he's not the pregnant one. I'd work things out based on nothing changing for him and then if he is entitled to anything additional; it'll be a welcome surprise.

We're slightly different as my husband is an apprentice not a full time student so is earning a full time wage, albeit a low one, but as far as I could tell it's the normal assistance that would be available based on your household income.

From what you've said you're quite similar to us in that you could survive on your salary alone (If he's going to have to stop the part time work) so you probably wouldn't qualify for much, like us!

You'll be similar too in that money being tight should be short term as they're working towards something, just a case of sitting it out.

Good luck, and congratulations.

Congratulations on your pregnancy!
When baby Is born you can claim child benefit which is approx £80 paid every 4 weeks rather than monthly. As DP is training in a health care role can he do bank work for a health care assistant and do some weekend night shifts as I believe these pay quite well.

Just to say he could consider taking an interruption of study if it would allow him to work for a while to get you some financial security?

Individual universities will also offer a variety of grants and scholarships which he may be entitled to. I would advise speaking to one of the financial advisers at his university to make sure he is getting everything he can. This can be reassessed at any point during his studies too.

Doubt he’d get much if any... I presume it will just depend on your joint household income if you get any extra support. And yes he could take time out of studies if necessary - in my experience universities are pretty flexible about that. I’m a part-time student myself and 30 weeks pregnant and my husband is just finishing his uni course (albeit before baby arrives; he’ll be about 2 weeks into his new job by my due date!) and we won’t qualify for any support because of household income - which is fair enough! I have been told I can have time out from my course but as I’m part-time will try to avoid that... we’ll see if I’m being overly ambitious!

Will you get maternity pay from your current job - is it enhanced or statutory?

Which university is he with? Policies for leave are usually available online. If you Google "paternity leave students" you get lots of individual university policies. If you can't find his individual university the policy may signpost you to available financial support.

I used to work in university HR and often had employees with partners who were students and unless they received funding and the funding body offered paid paternity leave then unfortunately there's nothing out there....at least from what I came across. You'd be looking at your normal household income and benefits that you are eligible for. However, lots of universities offer discounted childcare places to students, so look into that.