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?

So you've got 16k at least in savings? And presumably you'll claim from the father through CMS?

2K is a very unusually high amount in childcare.

I am actually asking my company about an exception - I'm also seeing if I can work until I go into labour rather than my EDD so I don't waste any of it before the baby arrives - aware the first is usually up to 2 weeks late.

I can't afford to take a year off - I think I'll have to take 6 months because that's when the nurseries near me take babies from.

It looks like I'll also get a couple of weeks extra through accumulated holiday but I can't use these until next year at the end of maternity leave, but it's still something. I accumulate 4 bank holiday days too.

No - I will get nothing from the father. He is no longer in the country.

I don't qualify for child benefit as I earn over £50k. No income from former partner - he's no longer even in the country.

I am thinking I should get some tax back though potentially so that's good. Also I can use 2 - 3 weeks accured holiday days/bank holidays at the end.

Thanks for the tip about asking the employer on the discretion - I will try this.

Also if you haven't looked into it - check out tax free childcare scheme from the gov - every little helps!

@CoronationKicking £2k is normal for childcare in London.

@Bunny44 I'm in a similar situation to you and agree with all you say. I own two properties currently so no chance of any state support. However, I have now opted in to child benefit because my income will be below £50k for this tax year. Might be worth doing the same - I was bowled over when I realise I would be getting about £160 per month for doing nothing!

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.

Not this again.

Even if we didn’t lose money to Tory cronyism and waste, we still wouldn’t have the money to afford all these wonderful generous socialist ideas (because I’m guessing maternity leave isn’t the only thing that you think should be very generous?). That’s why Labour isn’t offering the moon on a stick, otherwise they would. They know we’re skint no matter what we do.

And also why other countries without Tory cronyism and waste actually have less generous maternity than us. They know it’s unaffordable as well.

There’s a bizarre notion on here that if we just say ‘tax the rich’ and ‘we can afford it’ then we should be able to, but they’re just meaningless phrases like ‘Brexit means Brexit’.

Most of the world, as you can see from this thread

@Garethkeenansstapler a good idea could be to increase the % of their pay paid in maintenance by absent parents

I wouldn't rent to rent, it's wasting money. I live in London and my full time childcare (I use a childminder though, not nursery) is less than £1000 a month.
Honestly, in some areas 2k is normal for nursery but in other (very nice) bits of London you can be paying half that. Given you'll be paying childcare for quite a while yet, it really would be worth considering moving to a different part of London.

How much over 50k do you earn and do you contribute to a pension? It's only 50k income after pension contributions have been deducted so you might still get something.

Also you say the father now lives abroad but have you checked whether he is in a REMO country or not?

Claim CB anyway whilst you're on mat leave as your earnings may come under 50k.

But what if the absent parent doesn’t cough up? We pay?

Yes agree with you on this - but it's not the country paying the parental leave - it's the companies. So I think they should consider mandating that companies pay 90% of wages for a more reasonable length of time - 6 weeks is one of the shortest in Europe and doesn't even allow the woman to physically recover.

Also the situation is still difficult for 2 working parents financially let alone 1 so it's not just about single parents. I'm just saying it's close to impossible for single working parents.

I doubt many people want to be a single parent for many reasons - it certainly wasn't my plan and I don't think the government need to worry about inadvertently incentivising this through slightly longer maternity leave. I have never claimed any benefits in my life and have been working for over 20 years so I don't think you can say people in my position are looking to work the system!

I can't take on a lodger when the baby arrives as I don't have any spare rooms. Also can't downsize without a financial penalty as I have a 5 year mortgage. What I'm doing at the moment is Air Bnb'ing my house whenever I'm away for work or visiting family. I'm also getting all the baby stuff 2nd hand, either borrowing from friends and family or on facebook marketplace so this is saving a lot.

it is worth getting child benefit as it gives you national insurance credits until child is 12 whether you work full time or not even if you are paying it back , it is worth doing for this year anyway
I was self employed so just got the SMP too,

So I think they should consider mandating that companies pay 90% of wages for a more reasonable length of time - 6 weeks is one of the shortest in Europe and doesn't even allow the woman to physically recover.

There’s a reason why countries who do this have much shorter overall mat leave than we do.

If we did this, they would have to shorten the maternity leave to compensate. I don’t want that, most women probably don’t.

Also regarding moving - I am currently in a 5 year fix and while I can't pay off the mortgage without huge penalties, I am allowed to port it in its entirety to a new property. Maybe you could look into this

Keeping more women in the workforce makes the country richer. Poor maternity pay makes women dependent and children poor.

I got 480 days of parental leave in Scandinavia for each child. Most of it at 80% of my salary. And they weren't even born here - had them in the UK. And 6am to 6pm wraparound childcare is almost free too so you can go straight back to your job.

This is a massive feminist issue. Stop taking one for the team and thinking you're being good girls for not demanding too much.

to add to this, no doubt there will be complaints that ‘why should I get less mat pay because my ex is feckless’. What it boils down to is everyone wants everything but we have no money.

@Garethkeenansstapler no the suggestion is that companies are mandated to provide better parental leave. Most of them do anyway, but some don't. If I hadn't been able to save then I would have been entitled to help so actually this would actually reduce the amount coming from the governement in some cases,

On that note I have been paying NI for over 20 years and not claimed once.

So you earn over £50k and have at least £16k in savings?

With that money plus SMP you should be able to support yourself whilst you are on maternity leave.

It's not great, but it's not bad compared to other countries, and having a family is also a life choice. Why people don't prepare for it and save more so that they can cover the time off from work I'll never understand.

no the suggestion is that companies are mandated to provide better parental leave

That'll go down well, people don't ever want interference from the state- except when it suits them of course. Public sector jobs tend to have more generous maternity leave arrangements as its a carrot to excuse keeping the wages low, i suspect if you balance out your pay and benefits the longer enhanced pay isn't so great.

So am I right in thinking your salary is close to £100,000? As you mention additional income rental could push you over the threshold for free nursery hours?

I do feel for you as you are in a situation not of your own making due to your partner leaving, but I don't think the issue here is the UK's maternity policy, I think you simply need to readjust your life to your new circumstances.