Unplanned pregnancy and partner doesnt earn much

[AlmaBW94]

Hi all

Just found out I'm pregnant, but it was completely unplanned and my partner earns less than I do by about half.
As he is part time I think we will struggle when I go onto maternity but his job wont up his hours.
Aside from finding another job alongside which we will look at, financially how can we cope?
Not sure if we'd be entitled to any extra benefits (I'm on about 23k)

With maternity pay I think I will just about manage to pay my bills e.g mortgage halfed with him, my car finance etc.
I will have no spending money which I'm sure ill survive about, and I do have some savings but would rather not use them all

Basically has anyone been in a similar situation who could help?

Can your OH not work full time?

With your maternity pay you may be entitled to a top up? Although not entirely sure as you own your own home and that seems to limit what you are entitled too!

He cant get more hours where he currently works and it's a sector hes been desperate to get into for years so I dont want him to leave entirely :( maybe we need to go to citizens advice or something?

You go back to work, he stays at home. Simple.

Take a deep breath. You have several months to get this sorted. Save as much as you possibly can in the coming months. Find out from your employer what the maternity package is - you will receive 90% pay for the first six weeks remember as a minimum and your employer may offer an enhanced package. You may also get a tax rebate which will make your money stretch further. Look into your partner sharing parental leave so that you can go back to work earlier and he cares for baby as the lower earner.
Just as an aside - you don't have to proceed with the pregnancy if this is not the right time for you.

Congratulations!

It’s a tricky one, the obvious answer is to say ‘he needs to get a new job’ but I know that that is rarely as easy as it sounds as we have been there before too!

It won’t hurt to ask about benefits, you may well be entitled to tax credits etc and will get child benefit (assuming this is your first or second child).

Baby’s really don’t need to be all that expensive. Check the ‘baby necessities’ lists on here and other websites and also ask at your local children’s centre if they have a bank for things that have been donated that you can have for a small donation.

Good luck!

Sounds like he'll have to take paternity leave and you go back to work? Not sure there are many other options!

Can he get a second job? Maternity leave is relatively short lived, the longer term consideration would be whether you go back to work full or part time, and childcare fees as a result.
I work part time days and part time nights alongside my husband's full time position to make ends meet

People on low incomes have children. It’s right but with careful budgeting (if you want to) you can make it work.

I don’t think there’s a magic solution here.

You’ve got time to save, that’s what we have done. I am a main earner and DF works 18 hours a week and brings home just less than half of what I do. He will try and pick up overtime but isn’t guaranteed and isn’t very often. So we’ve made a real effort to save and have enough for me to take 6 months off. I’ll go back to work and he will become main carer for the baby which will reduce childcare bills.

If you have a mortgage and savings I doubt you’ll be entitled to anything. You will get child benefit which is helpful, but everyone else just saves throughout the pregnancy and uses that to support maternity. Sit down and look at your outgoings, what subscriptions can you get rid of, can you change providers for anything, how much do you need each month for bills, can your OH save more from his wages. Can you get your food bill down. Plenty of calculators which will tell you what your monthly payments will roughly look at. Can save lots by buying smart or second hand or using things from friends and family when it comes to baby stuff.

Could he get a part time job, like in a bar for a few evenings a week?

It will work OP.

I managed, alone and with no income.

Either you go back to work after you have the baby and he stays home or he finds a different job that pays more

You save, you budget. Buy baby things second hand (not a car seat or mattress). There are some lovely second hand things. Try breastfeeding. If you want to bottle feed I think Mamia formula is cheaper. Aldi nappies are fab. And yes he needs to get another job or stay at home with the baby.

Things have a funny way of falling into place.

Between us we earn less than your salary and were still going to try our best, you just need to make the best of what you have and try not to stress. What will be, will be and stressing wont change it

You can make it work if you want to.
Don't forget you have choices at this stage but loads of couples cope on a low income.
My husband earns a little more than your partner but a lot less than you do and we manage fine. I worked part time before having my first so didn't get much maternity pay.
As soon as I found I was pregnant I started to save all my wages to see if we could manage on just one wage. We can and it gave me a nice little nest egg. Some is still in the bank almost 5 years later.
Definitely worth looking into universal credit. You may be entitled to some help.

You need to budget for everything and be frugal at times but I still manage to go out for coffee with friends etc.
A great thing about small children and babies is they don't mind second hand things.

As others have said, save, plan and get done things second hand. Talk it through with your DP and work out how much childcare he can do around his job, or the cost of childcare, he might need to be a SAHP for a while.