Dealing with SMP! - How Are We Going to Cope!?

[BabyQuin2020]

Hi All,

Me and my Husband are expecting our first baby in May 2020 and from the little information I have been given so far by my Employer, it looks like I will only receive SMP. This will work out at a £1300 pay cut each month for me alone! .

SMP won't even cover my half of our rent let alone any other household or personal bills. I am even thinking i will need to SORN my car!.

Has anyone got any tips of how is best to plan for SMP and manage the situation?.

I can't help but feel that I am being punished for having a baby with this mega pay cut.

TIA

xx

It's well documented that SMP is crap, You save towards it and don't take as much mat leave. With DS I took 7 months SMP at the time I only earned 17k so wasn't a huge drop. I now earn £25k and will be SMP only from May, Banay was planned so we have saved enough to cover mortgage and bills for me to have 7 months off again.

You normally get 7-8 months notice of a baby arriving. That time should be used to cut back and save as much as you can. Both of you.

Did you do any projected finances when TTC? Are you able to save between now and May to cover some of the shortfall? If not, it may be that you can't take the full year off. One of my friends put all her bills for the last 3 months of May leave on a credit card. Don't think it's the most sensible idea but if you can pay it off when you go back to work it might be an option?

I saved £5k whilst pregnant and took a very curtailed mat leave. It is what it is.

I'm the same as everyone else and saved, saved, saved. Will your husband's wage cover much? It may be that you don't take much maternity leave, especially as the last few months you don't get any money

You are having a baby how come it is down to you to pay have the rent etc ??

Did you not check your contract/talk to someone when TTC OP? A lot of jobs only offer SMP. As a pp said now is the time to start saving. Also what about you dh’s wage? Does he earn enough to pay for your car and rent while you are on mat leave?? The buck doesn’t stop with you.

Savings. With both pregnancies, my other half & save £300 a month each for the entire pregnancy to be able to afford maternity leave. Sure, I don’t often buy new clothes nor eat out or have many luxuries but life isn’t so bad. We will have saved enough to cover our bills, leaving SMP as spending/petrol money. I’m lucky I get 6 months full pay but then I get SMP for 3 months & nothing for the final 3 months. So I need 6 months of bills covered..

Work out your half of the bills and how much you’ll need for say 9 months or a year and get saving ASAP!

Don't forget you'll also get child allowance it's only £21 a week but it's something. Sorry that is literally the best I have. My partner and I spent the last 18 months saving for a wedding that in the end cost around £20k, you would surprised what you are wasting money on now that you don't need to. Cut out takeaways, make your own lunch, stay in and don't go out etc, cancel Sky and Netflix. You might find if you're not working you don't actually need a car anyway?

Good luck!

My loss is more than that. I've spent 6 months saving the difference with my OH to enable me to take 16 weeks off work without any financial penalty. It's doable.

You save and use your savings to live off when on SMP. And make big cut backs to your spending.

I don't understand why you have half a rent to pay surely your partner will be financing your maternity leave in addition to smp?
Now you are a family/ or soo to be, money needs to be pooled rather than mine and his.

As everyone’s said, whether or not your baby was planned, unless you find out you’re pregnant as you go into labour, you have plenty of notice and save to fund it. You’re not being punished. You’re being supported by the state to allow you time off after having a baby. Lots of people choose not to become parents until they can afford to save up and take the hit.

Take a look at childcare costs if you want to experience real worry. That goes on for years.

Save from now.
Stop this "my half of the bills" thing.

What are you planning on doing for childcare as that could easily eat up most or all of the 1300pcm you'll get back on returning to work.

You save before you go on mat leave - even if baby was a surprise, you can save whilst pregnant and put money aside to cover the short fall.

Surely the time to think about how to cope financially when pregnant was when planning to get pregnant?

We saved quite a bit, but then we had a nice surprise as every month I was getting hundreds of pounds a month back in tax added to my smp.

It's not difficult if you don't have high outgoings OP, you BOTH need to cut back to the bare essentials.
Will you go back to work? I couldn't afford childcare, but didn't want to return anyway.

Thanks for all your replies.
Some helpful and honest and some judgemental but I guess everyone is entitled to their opinions.
Not everyone's situation is as easy as others when it comes to financials.
I'm sure we will be ok.
xx

It’s shit but you have to deal with it. My employer offers keep in touch days where I can go back for a day a month and get paid for it. Maybe contact universal credit see if you are eligible for a reduction in council tax or any help towards your rent

Harsh comments about the half & half thing. My partner and I pool our money but we pay equal halves of our mortgage & monthly bills. We see it as the fairest way to spend our wages. I’m actually the higher earner but not by a huge amount. On maternity leave, there’s no way my partner could cover the mortgage & bills with no input from me. So we both save the same amount each month & pool our savings to help cover maternity leave..

Childcare we also pay equal halves. We both get an equal amount of childcare vouchers through work!

Good luck OP, as someone above mentioned, on top of SMP you will get tax back each month , I found that a welcome surprise last time!

You can apply for universal credit while on maternity leave, though if your husband earns a good wage then you probably won't get anything as they will look at your joint income... maybe worth a look though. The easiest way to work out what benefits you can get is at www.entitledto.com

Take less mat leave and do all of your KiT days (providing they're paid). I did two days a month from six weeks and then went back after six months.

Try to start saving now and don't be tempted to start whacking stuff on credit cards.

@Bol87 Yes, very harsh and unnecessary, catty, judgmental comments from some people on this thread. This is my first time on MumsNet after hearing such lovely things about how supportive and understanding people are, regardless of their situation, but it seems some people are just out to be spiteful which is sad. I wasn't expecting half of those comments! ha!.

If it's any consolation, both me and my Husband are the same as you and your partner financially. We do an equal 50/50 split on everything in the house. I would never expect him to pay foot the bill for everything, likewise, he wouldn't for me. It just makes you wonder how some people operate if that's what they expect from their other halfs.

Thank you for your kind words! I really appreciate it.

How does the tax each month work out then?. I was wondering what they would tax from the SMP each month as that would mean it's even less i would receive. x

@goodnightsugarpop Thank you, i will have a look at that xx

We're basically winging it. I'll go back to work when we can't afford for me to be at home. We have some savings but generally just burying my head in the sand...