What benefits can you claim whilst on mat leave?

[SunnySide1992]

Hey everyone so i work full time but will inly get mat pay from the goverment as i dont qualify for smp! DH works full time aswell. Are there any benefits we can get to help, seeming as mat pay is so awful? UK by the way =)

Because if im only getting £150 a week instead of say £300 a week how are you suppose to survive? Can i top it up with universal credit? Will i be entitled to child tax credit? I have no idea what im doing sorry!

Nope! I’m on the same, you just have to manage

You just have to save as much as possible to see you through.

I only got SMP no top ups from my employers and just had to save as much as possible before mat leave, and be mindful of spending when off work.

Depends on DH's earnings but it's highly unlikely you'll be entitled to anything.

It's a struggle.

Child benefit so long as neither of you earns over 50k.

It used to be tax credits but that stopped for new applicants years ago. Universal credits I think is the new way but if you earn over 16 something thousand a year together unlikely to qualify. There may be some starter grants, check your local council.

Save as much as you can now. Also worth looking at whether your partner will get enhanced shared parental leave with his job - mine gets four months full pay for example so we're both planning to take some time

You don't get anything unfortunately, I've been saving since I found out I was pregnant so that I can subsidise my own pay whilst I'm off, as the mat pay only covers my mortgage and half my car 😂 I've saved enough to cover all bills and weekly food shops and then a £200 a month spend on random/whatever bits. Have you spoken to your HR / payroll department and got your monthly breakdowns of payments? Remember you will have annual leave to use which will boost your pay and also most companies offer KIT days which you get full pay for xx

I know, it seems mad doesn't it? But you can't typically claim extra benefits if you fall in the middle income layer, just tough.

Best recommendations I have are buy 2nd hand wherever possible - eBay and FB have loads of cheap bundles of perfectly lovely baby stuff (clothes, toys, cot, pram, high chair etc).

Don't forget, while you are on maternity leave you accrue normal holidays AND (weirdly) Bank Hols. So let's say you're entitled to 20 days plus bank hols and you're off for 12 months, you have 28 days leave stored up.

I only wanted a year off, so I asked work if I could "return to work" at 10.5 months, then I used my 28 days holiday (with their agreement) so for the last 5 weeks of my maternity leave, I was paid full pay to be at home. You need to talk to your employer about how they will expect you to use up that accrued holiday, as policies vary. Some places automatically just pay it out lump sum when you go back to work if you don't arrange something different.

Also, if relevant, you are entitled to staff bonus while you are on mat leave. This is the law. So if everyone gets a 5% bonus in April, you get one too.

Good luck and congrats on your pregnancy.

You'll get child benefit but it's not a lot. £20ish a week

It's rubbish isn't it.

We've saved the remainder so can 'top up' income as an when needed and then anything we don't use will go towards DC in childcare when I go back to work.

If useful, some other things I read up on re KIT days, holiday, and extra earnings (as I wasn't sure which I'd be getting until I got the letter from my employer due to finding out I was pregnant a bit after starting)

Your 10 KIT days are paid at a rate discussed with your employer. These can be interspersed with your mat leave. But, any 'work' counts as a full day.

If you had a 'side job before the 26 weeks before you were 15w pregnant and are on SMP, you can continue that if doesn't infringe your SMP job contract. (I coach sport which I'm hoping to go back to in September one morning a week to get dollar).
If on Mat allowance, your 10 KIT days are spread across both main and any side jobs.

If you've not done any other side-work beforehand, you can earn £1000 per year (income, not turnover) without having to declare it, which helps - but I don't think this can be via payroll. Ironing / babysitting / copywriting / etc...

I also think you can rent out driveways and spare rooms (possibly not ideal with a new baby) and get £7500 tax free per year too and this is disclosed as extra income. Or Airbnb if you go away?

Re getting stuff= second hand is a lifesaver for keeping costs down to boost savings you can redistribute for when they're here - I think we've spent maybe £1k so far, all in - clothes, pushchair, (new car seat), cot, carriers etc. Fb marketplace is ace - and friends that have done with kids are KEEN to get rid of stuff. Baby stuff is often not used very much at all, due to babies growing so quickly!

We've been stashing an allowance for baby from now too - we've been setting aside about £100 a month, so have a cushion for when baby arrives for extras n stuff. Now it's just part of our expenses, and will help towards stuff we need for baby, and groups etc...
some are more expensive than you think! (like swim lessons)

I think you need to be very low income to get benefits these days.

You won’t qualify for anything if your husband earns a decent wage. It’s a reason why do many people choose not to have children, they are expensive from the get go.

Also look at your other halfs paternity leave - this is only about £100-150 a week too so we have had to save for him to take the two weeks off

Unless he's on minimum wage I doubt you'll qualify. There is calculators online to give you an idea but as a general guide if he earns over £20k it's nothing

I worked, and think only benefit I got was free dental treatment!

@SunnySide1992

Hey everyone so i work full time but will inly get mat pay from the goverment as i dont qualify for smp! DH works full time aswell. Are there any benefits we can get to help, seeming as mat pay is so awful? UK by the way =)

I thought SMP was statutory maternity pay and that was what you got from the government if you didn’t get an enhanced package from your employer?

You get smp if you have worked at your employer long enough.
(41 weeks by your due date essentially)
Otherwise it's mat allowance which is £150 ish a week.

You know you didnt have to have a child right now? You have a DH in full time employment and the government will give you £600 a month...hardly to be sniffed at.
I take it you just switched job which is why you haven't qualified for SMP. I did the same after being bullied in previous workplace. I didn't blame the government for what they were willing to give to me even though it's me who made the choice to have a child. Jeez...

What about your DH taking shared paternity leave by the way? It would seem likely his package would be better.

@onanadventure

You get smp if you have worked at your employer long enough. (41 weeks by your due date essentially) Otherwise it's mat allowance which is £150 ish a week.

Thank you. I was really confused. Surely £150 a week from the state is not to be sniffed at?

I got nothing extra. Was a bit of a struggle because DH is self-employed and didn't have a lot of work on at the time.

Both DP and I are self employed. I'll get stat mat pay but nothing else. That won't even cover my half of the mortgage and bills. We've been saving for over two years (we did IVF and had to plan our timings based on when we'd be able to afford for me to take leave

@Smallbutnottinykitten it's not to be sniffed at but it's not a lot is it?
(Even SMP isn't much more - you get 90% for 6 weeks and then 33 weeks of £150 a week).

It's not being ungrateful for what we do get to explore savings strategies, finance options and benefits etc is there?

Just have to try and manage unfortunately and so many of us have been there and it's awful!

Does no one look into this before they get pregnant?

You will likely get some tax back if you only receive SMP, which can bump your income up. Obviously depending on when your maternity leave is in tne tax year.