UK maternity policy feels inadequate

[Bunny44]

I wanted to see how people manage in similar situations. I'm only going to receive statutary maternity leave, which I have to take from my estimated due date, so this is 6 weeks at 90% pay, then £726 per month there on.

I am a single parent (through being left while pregnant), I'm on a reasonablly high salary and have a mortgage, but I live in London so obviously costs are also high. The nurseries near me only take babies from 6 months, so I'm looking at potentially having 5 months of living off £726, which is half of my mortgage cost, let alone bills etc.

I'm trying my best to save as much as possible now and even taking on extra work, but I'm also aware that when I go back to work, nursery will cost £2000 a month so I need to keep back some of these saving as covering this is all going to be very tight.

I feel a bit aggreived as having spoken to most of my friends, nearly all of them, except a couple of self-employed ones, receive enhanced maternity leave at 26 weeks at full pay at least. My company (SMB in a male-dominated industry) told me before joining that they were introduced enhanced maternity leave, but then after joining said it's only for 12 weeks and you have to have been at the company for 2 years to qualify, so I didn't make this threshold.

I don't qualify for any extra government help, despite my income falling way behind what you would need to live off in the UK per month. It seems unreasonable I've been working and paying NI since I was 14 (I'm 35 now) and pay considerable taxes now and then when I actually need support it is not available. Also stautary maternity pay is just not enough when the woman is the only or main earner. You need at least 6 weeks, if not much more, to just physically recover. You could say I should find a company that has a better parental policy before getting pregnant, but it's really awkward asking in interviews and in my industry it doesn't seem to be well catered in this regard (and they complain that there are not enough women!)

I'm surprised about quite how difficult it is, and as metioned financially I have been in a pretty good position - how on earth do others manage if they are the only earner and don't get enhanced parental leave?

I don’t really know what else you expect. You haven’t been in your job for even 2 years, yet want enhanced maternity pay to go off for what - 12 months, I assume? The U.K. is actually very generous compared to many other countries (bar Scandinavia before anyone jumps in with that one - they’re very much an exception). If you pay high tax what is your income? Did you save anything?

@Garethkeenansstapler assume you're a man? Keen to hear from other women who have been in this position and how they managed. You jump to a lot of conclusions and doesn't sound like you read my post.

As I said, I've been saving very hard, but, according to reports, most people in the UK struggle to even save to cover 1 month, let alone 5 + the extra needed to cover the outgoings of nursery. Personally I have saved a lot, but my point is, this actually isn't enough or will only just cover it.

I think the government should be mandating 10 - 12 weeks 90% pay to allow women to physically recover from birth.

You are incorrect that the UK is more generous than most countries - if you check online you'll see most European countries offer at least 16 weeks at 100% pay. Also it was reported yesterday that we have some of the highest childcare costs in the world.

No I’m a woman, on maternity leave.

The country can’t afford what you propose

Despite being a socialist country, France is a lot less generous than the UK for all social security benefits despite retaining a link with previous earnings.
I'm qualified as an HR/payroll manager and was quite shocked when I did the course.

Have you factored in any child benefit, plus child maintenance from former partner? Also, if you're a fairly high earner, you'll probably find HMRC will reimburse you for tax paid (because you're earning less than they assumed at the start of the tax year), which can be a help. Also - strategic use of holidays at full pay before and after mat leave - holiday entitlement continues to accrue while you're on leave.

So some strategies that might help. But yes, SMP isn't great. Could you ask your employer to exercise their discretion re the enhanced in your circumstances? A friend had success with this.

Then on return make sure you're making use of tax free childcare to bring nursery costs down. Good luck!

The Uk is generous.
I moved to Australia (dual citizenship) and it will work out less despite higher earnings , minimum wage and cost of living.

You don't only get £726 though. You can top that up with Universal Credit, unless you have a lot of savings, in which case you can use those.

I mean, mat policy probably assumes that there is a father on the scene paying something. Which isn’t a totally unreasonable assumption.

that said I feel for you OP - it must be stressful enough with your partner walking out. Can you find a childminder and go back earlier? Or - a left field idea - could you rent out your london house for 6 months and move somewhere far cheaper in the U.K. while you’re on leave? No easy solutions here.

the overall maternity benefits are quite good, upto 12 months off, 9 momths with some money legally have to keep your job for you for the 9 months, can share leave with partner.
as you say some countries have 16 weeks at 100% but then it little or nothing
in France it is 16 weeks paid then upto 26 weeks so overall less time, in Germany it is 14 weeks 6 before 8 after fully paid but you can take upto 3 years unpaid
Italy is 5 months but some is before birth, Greece is 17 weeks but starts 8 weeks before birth

I absolutely agree with you that statutory maternity pay is completely unfair. I was in exactly the same position as you, but self-employed. I think the last five years of tax payments should be looked at - and averaged to calculate how much maternity pay you get. Please don't anyone give me any crap about how self-employed people are paid more and should be saving up for this sort of thing. That's true for holiday, not maternity pay. There are a lot of industries where you can only really work in them when you're self-employed and they're not necessarily the well-paid ones. Employment has changes, and SMP needs to change too.

I know it's a hassle, but can you move? I don't mean out of London completely, but just to a cheaper part. I pay nowhere near £2000 a month for childcare. Depending on the equity in your home and how expensive the area you live in is, you might be able to buy somewhere cheaper and reduce monthly outgoings as well.
How much do you actually earn? For some people its worth reducing their hours, maybe working 4 days a week, and then being able to claim UC help with childcare costs

The country can afford what it chooses to afford

Remember Eat out to Help Out? All that PPE? The Coronation? HS2? The MP Expenses Scandal? We're the sixth biggest economy in the world, we could pay for generous maternity leave if we wanted to.

The truth is that the system is based on couples having kids OP, which is really hard on people like you who are going it alone. I suppose the argument would be that incentivising people to be single parents rather than have kids in a stable relationship is morally dodgy? I know you didn't chose this situation, but I remember lots of debates in the 90s about how single mums shouldn't get council flats etc as it's an incentive to have a kid you can't afford.

You're just going to have to muddle through somehow - downsizing or taking a lodger or whatever if need be.

You can pretty much live on a shoestring when you have a baby though - all the commuting costs, cost of work clothes, lunches out, going out etc are saved. If you buy mostly secondhand baby kit you can save a lot.

Agree with PPs that that does seem expensive for childcare. I'm in London zone 3 and norm seems to be about £70/ day, which works out £1,500 a month for full time, and more like £1,300 after tax free childcare.

Have you explored childminders in your area? Can be cheaper, and a more homely environment for a young baby. Obv has to be the right person that you feel comfortable with.

This makes for interesting reading regarding maternity rights world wide.
https://www.ilo.org/global/about-the-ilo/newsroom/news/WCMS_008009/lang--en/index.htm

Where's the dad?

Generous ? Compared to who ? The USA ?

The country can afford it very well and so can companies .

The NZ and Aus references in that article don't seem quite correct. In both countries there is a period of paid leave by the government. In Aus you need to have been employed for 10 of the 12 preceding months, There are then some companies that offer extra.

You are in a difficult situation as a single mum. I have been in that position but luckily I had savings and my salary was high enough to pay a nanny.

there’s definitely an issue with women earning too much for uc help but not enough to pay the enormous cost of childcare

How come you cannot get help while on maternity leave ? Is it due to savings ? Would moving to a cheaper area be an option or are you completely bound to london ?
im lucky that I negotiated a great maternity leave pay , I get 9 month full enhanced pay if I return at that point . I’m also allowed to add my holidays to that . So almost 11 months off .

I can't get UC as I will have the savings I saved up to cover the unpaid months + nursery fees

@Bunny44 so you've got enough money?

I'd go as far as saying it's offensively poor. £156 or whatever per week for rearing and nurturing your child in the first year of their life is insulting to mothers.

Could you try and negotiate to get enhanced from the company? How far from the cutoff are you? Can you ask that if they pay it you will commit to working for a year plus on return (ie show loyalty).

See if a special case can be made - worth asking. In the mean time find out about carry over leave? With both of mine I took as little leave as possible while pregnant to carry over.

Any my company pays out for bank holidays so there is another 8 days of pay (assuming you took the year off).

I looked at renting out my house in London and moving outside and renting but actually due to rents being so high, it looks like I'd be worse off doing this and then also the rental income would count as income and disqualify me for free nursery hours next year as it'd push me over the threshold. The nurseries near me which take from 6 months charge £1800 but then they mentioend potential extra costs which would take it to £2000. They're not fancy nurseries so I think it's just how much it costs here.