Only 6 months of paid maternity leave... seems so little!

[erised]

I'm in the UK. My work only offers 26 weeks paid leave and an additional 26 weeks unpaid. I feel I'm going to have to go to work at the 26 weeks due to income but it feels such a short time to have with my baby... I also plan on breast feeding so how is that going to work out? I'm also not sure if I'll be able to afford childcare if I go back to work part-time? It seems so expensive and that all of my income will just go on that which seems pointless...

My husband has a 28k salary and mine currently is about 13k. Our rent is a lot at £1150 plus other bills so don't think we could managed on just his income alone.

Sorry if this is rambling but there's a lot going on in my head!

OP isnt getting any full pay, just SMP

39 weeks at £140 per week is the was the legal minimum, providing you've net the qualifying period.

@erised by law you get 39 weeks SMP, I thought your handbook is out of date.

You are entitled to 39 weeks SMP

My company pay was first 6 weeks at 90% then the following 20 weeks were 66%pay (smp topped up by work to equate to 66%) then the remaining 13 weeks were at just smp, I think your policy saying exception of pay means it wont be topped up for those weeks, so you will get just smp, they legally cant not pay you smp for the remaining 13 weeks, they also have to assume you will be taking 52 weeks 39 of which will be paid and 13 that are not paid but you are still entitled to be off work, once you decide on a return date let them know and your pay will stop from that date onwards you will likely need to give 6-8 weeks notice of a return date.
You will also accrue annual leave whilst on maternity leave which you might be able to add on to extend your leave slightly longer.
If this is your first child do not jump to the conclusion that all your earnings will be sucked up by nursery, I found that only happens when paying for 2 or more at nursery age, however that of course depends on wages and where you are in the country as costs can vary massively, how many hours do you work? X

@8paws8legs it is my first child. In the Surrey area and I work around 30 hours a week for £8.50 an hour.

We decided it was pointless me going back to work to make us £1k per year.

What about the other benefits of being in work though?
Pension contributions (and matching counts from employer)
National insurance contributions
Other life insurance or healthcare/dental schemes offered by employer
Keeping your career going and staying current on skills and contacts
Potential for promotions and rises
Having regular varied adult/other communication outside the home
Having something other than parenting to use your brain for/think about/talk about
Etc

It shouldn't just be about the money. Although £1000 is not nothing, either.

@erised ok so you will be on around 230 per week for your first 6 weeks (dont forget to factor in tax/pension contributions etc) for any weeks that are just smp you will be paid £148.68 per week do double check with your HRT department though as they will know the rules and maybe able to write an easier list of week 1-6 £... weeks 7-39 £... etc if there's top ups for longer than the first 6 weeks you will obviously be getting more but it definitely cant be paid for only 6 months.
Congratulations on your pregnancy and please dont let this stress you out, get saving as much as possible between now and babies arrival and speak to your mortgage company if you feel you might be too stretched, they may let you reduce your monthly payments and extend your term by a short time, check Martin Lewis website he has lots of information regarding lowering your bills and even a section on freebies x

*hr department

PPs have already pointed out that SMP is for 39 weeks so I won't repeat them.

You will almost certainly be entitled to some Universal Credit after the baby is born. You can check now using an online calculator like entitledto. And if and when you return to work you could get up to 85% of your childcare costs covered by UC (childcare element).

Is there any way you could find somewhere cheaper to rent? It might be worth applying for social housing; there's high demand and limited supply in most areas, and you wouldn't be high priority, but no harm in getting on the list.

@8paws8legs thanks for the info!

@AnotherEmma no way in this area of getting somewhere cheaper. We have only just got the 2 bed house after living in a 1 bed box flat. Definitely need the space. I really don't want to apply for social housing, it will likely take ages to find somewhere and they do just dump you in the worst areas (grew up in social housing and have seen my sisters struggles with it).

You'll just have to budget carefully then.

www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/categories/having-a-baby

www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/baby-checklist/

I checked my employee hand book today and it said 26 weeks too! It said first 6 weeks at 90% and then the remaining at SMP until 26 weeks - but I can take up to 39 with the last 13 unpaid and it was saying that’s if you agree to go back for a year after maternity. I don’t think it can be right though sounds ridiculous and not inline with the government guidelines. I need to talk it through with a director and I think you should do the same just have a chat I’m sure they’ve either worded it poorly causing confusion or haven’t updated policy for a looong time