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 =)

@mummyh2016 I can see the benefit of paying people more for less time. I just can't help but think how much it would cost to pay someone a % if they earn £100k or £200k and whether as taxpayers we'd end up paying more taxes. Then again some people on benefits are subsidised and I'd rather the money went to people who worked most of their lives and just needed some support during may leave than those who rely on the state if they don't need to (which I'm sure is not the majority of people on benefits but I believe it is some)

Government can't afford your "fair" maternity pay, it'll always be piss poor.

@Horehound

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...

how supportive

This kind of response boils my piss quite honestly.

OP look at UC when the time comes as you might be entitled to something depending upon your husband's earnings.

If you are already pregnant then wishing you all the best.

If not yet pregnant then start saving while you can.

Most employers don't pay a lot which is why we need a benefits system in this country and perfect folk like @Horehound can sheer and criticise you.

[quote ElderMillennial]@mummyh2016 I can see the benefit of paying people more for less time. I just can't help but think how much it would cost to pay someone a % if they earn £100k or £200k and whether as taxpayers we'd end up paying more taxes. Then again some people on benefits are subsidised and I'd rather the money went to people who worked most of their lives and just needed some support during may leave than those who rely on the state if they don't need to (which I'm sure is not the majority of people on benefits but I believe it is some)[/quote]
Like with furlough then, 80% up to a certain amount.

But then paying up to a certain amount will still be unfair as there will be people who earn a lot and get a lower percentage because of the cap.

[quote ElderMillennial]@mummyh2016 I can see the benefit of paying people more for less time. I just can't help but think how much it would cost to pay someone a % if they earn £100k or £200k and whether as taxpayers we'd end up paying more taxes. Then again some people on benefits are subsidised and I'd rather the money went to people who worked most of their lives and just needed some support during may leave than those who rely on the state if they don't need to (which I'm sure is not the majority of people on benefits but I believe it is some)[/quote]
To be honest that's my issue, I know it is a very small amount of people that play the system but it really winds me up. I've worked since I was 15, at some times I worked 2 jobs to make ends meet. I've paid into the system but I feel like I will never be looked after in any way by the government. When DD was born I met up with an old school friend who had also had a baby. She played the system good and proper. She hadn't worked since she was 16, she lived in a house belonging to a family member, paid no rent or bills yet somehow could claim housing benefit. Everything she could claim for she got. She was given more than I was even though I had always worked and had actual things to pay for. That is why the low SMP makes me so angry. I work for a small business who I could never ask or expect to pay me enhanced maternity pay.
You're right in regards to high earners over £200k or whatever but you'd like to think they would be back working 6 months later so paying back what they've received.

There was no reason for her not to have worked by the way, she had no illnesses/disability/mental health issues.

@Chelyanne

Government can't afford your "fair" maternity pay, it'll always be piss poor.

If the birth rate continues to fall they will find they can afford it.

Countries with a birth rate 1.2 and less per woman have suddenly found they can afford to give families incentives to have children.

@mummyh2016 has she continued to have babies spaced out about every 5/6 years otherwise she will be screwed when the kid gets to 18.

The reality is as soon as we introduce, or even propose, a scheme where we in essence award more money if you're a higher earner, people will stamp their feet and say we're discriminating against the under-privileged etc.

The concept makes perfect logical sense, but the people who currently get all the support would still make it look they're being penalised unfairly.

I'm an average-wage earner but it's very clear and obvious that a single mother,

Accidentally pressed send... it's very clear a single mother on 35k a year, with two other children under 5, who suddenly ends up on £600 a month isn't going to be able to raise her children in the same way a married mother with a husband on 25k who is receiving £600 a month whilst on mat leave with her first child can

[quote RedMarauder]@mummyh2016 has she continued to have babies spaced out about every 5/6 years otherwise she will be screwed when the kid gets to 18.[/quote]
She has one child who is 4 so there is every chance she will have one every 5-6 years!

@ElderMillennial

But then paying up to a certain amount will still be unfair as there will be people who earn a lot and get a lower percentage because of the cap.

It will always be unfair in some way shape, or form. Companies could top up. Like with furlough.

And those for who the limit doesn't reach are IMHO more likely to be in companies that get elevated pay.

Or it'd be less of a huge shock financially.
150 a week covers bugger all.

80% (on a sliding scale) would cover more.

I don't agree with a lot of the comments on here (and I say that as someone who is trying to figure out how to afford maternity leave myself).

How is the situation different to someone who earns 50k plus suddenly being made redundant who doesn't qualify for redundancy pay and is therefore only entitled to universal credit? Should they be entitled to more because their bills are higher? Of course not.

I know it's a struggle but 12 months fully paid maternity leave is not a right. Nice to have certainly, but not essential for a decent standard of living, which is what the benefit system should be based on.

Now state subsidised childcare for under 2s is a different matter! That should totally be available!

I think that furlough got it just right - 80% up to a threshold. For SMP the threshold could be something like 35 -40K.
Child benefits should be capped on household income, not individual. It’s awful that a single parent on 51K gets nothing but a couple on 49 each do.

@Toottootdrivers in some other counties unemployment pay is absolutely indexed on your previous salary for several months.
In general here, people on 50k get nothing until they’ve depleted their savings to the last penny, which is dreadful. Someone who hasn’t saved would get UC - it’s so bad.

I think there needs to be a balance. Indexing unemployment on salary can be counterproductive but withholding it for people who have saved is truly immoral IMO.

@Toottootdrivers

I don't agree with a lot of the comments on here (and I say that as someone who is trying to figure out how to afford maternity leave myself).

How is the situation different to someone who earns 50k plus suddenly being made redundant who doesn't qualify for redundancy pay and is therefore only entitled to universal credit? Should they be entitled to more because their bills are higher? Of course not.

I know it's a struggle but 12 months fully paid maternity leave is not a right. Nice to have certainly, but not essential for a decent standard of living, which is what the benefit system should be based on.

Who said fully paid?

£150 a week is not a decent standard of living?

sadly the SMP amount isn't going to change anytime soon OP.

I'm due on mat leave in a few months a few things I have done to prepare is:
Re-mortgaged to a lower monthly fee
Switched both phones to sim only
Will be cancelling Sky
getting better at food budgeting
Planning to breast feed if possible
Planning to use reusable nappies as that should help stretch the weekly budget.
Join Emma's diary (totally free), pack 2 is great as it contains new born nappies - 22 I think! If you screenshot the voucher, you should be able to get multiple packs!
Stopping buying stuff I don't need - trust me the clothes shopping habit was a shock but I just cannot fit in high street clothes now so that has helped!
Covid has helped with saving - fuel costs for both DH and me were halfed
Reviewed utilities/insurance etc
If you have debts, move these to an interest free card.
If you need to save the cash, you could take a break from your pension, but if it is salary sacrifice I would try to keep it going as your employer will make the payments on your behalf when on mat leave.
99% of baby items have been 2nd hand
As we have had 5-years of trying and saving for IVF if the NHS funded treatment didn't work, we have a little nest egg but for most families life doesn't work like that so hopefully the above will help you.

If you are struggling, remember you may be able to apply to use your local foodbank.

Good luck and many congratulations!

@Mrbay we've done the same.

@thebookworm1 I agree on the child benefit, it's so stupid that it's based on the individual income rather than joint.

@Horehound

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...

Yes let's all be grateful that the mother has to take a massive hit to her earnings when having a child, making many women financially reliant on their partners. This in turn has an effect on whether mothers can return to work, as their career has suffered, and less money means less ability to pay for childcare to enable them to go back to work. What a great system.

[quote Chelyanne]@thebookworm1 I agree on the child benefit, it's so stupid that it's based on the individual income rather than joint.[/quote]
Same with "tax free childcare" and the "30 free hours". It deliberately penalises single parents as they lose entitlement at much lower household earnings than a working couple do.

@PolkadotZebra

I didn't think tax free childcare penalised single parents? You get the entitlement per child you only aren't eligible if you have an income over £100k - what ever is paid in and by whom (so grandparents can pay in) is topped up the 20% doesn't matter if you are single parent, in a relationship or part of a throuple?

Yes, it's pretty awful really. You'd have thought that was a very small, simple thing the gov could do to support single parents.