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?

Do you understand the concept of those children paying tax so you can retire ?

So the reason everyone has babies is so I can retire? Silly argument really as with the retirement age going the way it is, a lot of us will have already shuffled off this mortal coil before we even get there.

Fair enough OP! I do sympathise.

One point - companies claim your mat pay back from the government - it doesn't cost them anything (obviously enhanced pay would)

100%.

Also a falling birthrate isn't really all bad anyway. We have enough people.

You choose to have a family, you get to plan and pay for it. Stop expecting everyone else to fund your decision to have a child.

I think the uk maternity leave is quite generous compared to many countries. Yes some are better but not many. Unfortunately if you can't afford to stay at home you will need to go back to work earlier.

BTW I'm going on another maternity leave woo.

Soon*!

I don't think I've seen this suggested elsewhere but could you request a mortgage holiday while you're on maternity? That way it may free up a bit more , may help to explain you're a single parent etc returning at 6/7 months full time?

@Garethkeenansstapler I'd say it's more based on culture than logic. The work system is based on the idea that the standard worker is a man working full time 9-5.

Deviation from this due to maternity, ill health, age, wish to work part time etc - seen as an aberration and often provided for within the system in a piecemeal fashion (usually by stalwart female politicians pushing through whatever change they can manage).

It's actually incredibly wasteful to educate and train women for careers they want to do, but then push them into being SAHMs unwillingly due to the high cost of childcare (no issue with SAHMs who want to do that!) Or into part-time roles that have poor prospects.

Proper funding of maternity leave that aimed at retaining women's skills within the workplace and providing continuity in their careers would pay dividends for society. Yes, it would take some public spending but with skills shortages etc, it would make sense economically.

I'm fairly centrist rather than a Tory-bashing type. I just think career trajectories are based on a male pattern and women regularly get screwed over because their life events don't fit with that.

If we approached mat pay with an attitude of 'how can we benefit women and babies and support a return to work for those who want it so we don't lose their skills' it would be much better than 'scrape through mat leave on a pittance and come back to find you're at a career disadvantage'.

@Bunny44 obviously unsure of your job, but is there any possibility you could return to work earlier and work from home? Even on part time hours?

The birth rate in London is falling so much that they're talking about closing schools - this is due to people moving out of the city as well but we also have a high vacany rate. Jobs and nobody to work them already.

I'll look into childminders as an alternative - didn't realise they could be that much cheaper!

I just came on this thread to say look at childminders and see how early they can take your baby.

Mine use to take babies from 3 months. Though now due to most parents taking maternity/parental leave the youngest she gets is nearly 10 months.

And yes a PP was right depending on how willing you are to travel to get to your nursery/childminder some areas of London are cheaper than others. So you may find one a few stops away from you cheaper than one two streets from you.

BTW both myself and a friend had to go back to work around 5 months though in both our cases we have partners.

Just to correct a misconception above about Germany ('in Germany it is 14 weeks 6 before 8 after fully paid but you can take upto 3 years unpaid') (with apologies if anyone else has addressed this and I've missed the post): The 14 weeks at full pay is correct (if you give birth before your due date you get what you missed of the 6 pre-birth weeks added on to the 8 post-birth weeks, and you still get the full 8 if you're overdue), but the 3 years unpaid after that is outdated. Once the 14 weeks are up, either parent can take leave amounting to a full 12 months since the birth in total (i.e. including the first fully paid 8 weeks), with 14 months in total if the parents share, paid (after the first 8 weeks) at 67% of average salary/income earned in the 12 months previous to the birth. Shared leave can be split in any way (e.g. each parent takes 7 months, consecutively or concurrently; one takes 12 and the other 2 - any combination). Self-employed people get it too, and those without income get a minimum payment. Then your child has a right to a place in state-subsidised childcare (usually at least 4 hours/day and more if needed) from their first birthday. (This is not to say it can't be tough sometimes finding places in practice, certainly in cities). Your job has to be kept open for you for up to 3 years, but you're not paid beyond those first 12/14 months.

This was introduced in 2007 to increase the birth rate, encourage parental leave sharing and make it easier for women in particular to remain in the workforce. Significant periods of paternity leave have become pretty normal - because you literally lose at least 2 months' worth of decent money from the state if you don't take it. Families who aren't putting every penny into extortionate childcare have more to spend in the economy, and mothers who can afford to return to work are paying more tax and claiming fewer benefits. It seems a sound investment to me.

Public sector parental leave is often enhanced - they already get over the statutary. I have lots of friends who are teachers and they definitely all got enhanced leave - not 26 weeks but it was a more acceptable level.

It's the birth rate in inner London.

And they have already shut both primary and secondary schools in zones 1 and 2. They are looking at shutting more.

I know some local authorities that cover zones 2 and 3 are also looking at shutting schools as well.

In outer London zones and edge of Home Counties some people are/were having issues getting school places.

BTW for those who don't know inner London are the 1-3 travelcard zones.

One good policy option for minimal state cost would be legislation to force companies to disclose parental/maternity/paternity policies/benefits at the same time as job offer/contract - as I agree it is otherwise very awkward/difficult to ask and that makes it v difficult to plan your life and chose the correct working environment for your needs.

Exactly - a lot of people here miss the point that adequate parental leave can actually help the economy.

Ok thank you - I'll look into this. I was advised nurseries are more reliable if you need to work long hours and get access to the funded extra hours but I'll take a look if it's more affordable.

I would try to take a mortgage holiday for the few months before baby can go into nursery. SMP is poor but to be honest should have factored in to your decision to take the job if you planned to get pregnant. I’m working in a job with a slightly lower salary as I’m ttc and our policy is very generous. I turned down a higher paid job that only offered SMP. Do you have holiday you can use? This would potentially give a other paid month. Plus the KIT days?

I can work from home some of the time but I don't think I could do my job while simultaneously looking after a baby - I need to be in meetings/calls etc.

Not in London.

I'm sympathetic OP. The truth is if you live in London there is almost zero support

The government actually reimburse SMP so it is the country that is paying - they reimburse 103% of SMP for small employers and 92% for other employers

Could you take in a lodger to give you some extra income?

Remember you are entitled to 10 Keeping In Touch days during your Maternity Leave and these are to be payed at your full normal salary. After the first 6 weeks, schedule one KIT day every fortnight for the next 5 months and you can get to 6 months of maternity leave with a more reasonable income. Assuming your normal salary is quite high, the impact of a KIT day is quite significant.

Although 12 months of maternity leave is nice, 6 months is adequate and if you can't afford the remainder, it's better to plan to go back to work at 6 months - NB if you return at or before 6 months your employer has to sustain you in your previous job unchanged, but if you take 6-12 months they have the right to shift you somewhere else within the business which may not be what you want.

Don't treat it as getting full salary now, the 6 weeks at 90% and then at SMP rate - calculate the total you are going to get between right now, while you are still on full salary, for how ever many months left you have of pregnancy, and then all your maternity pay across the 6 months of leave, and divide that total by the number of months - and start living at that income level now.

Make sure your ex is going to pay everything he is due to!

@Bunny44 it is possible to work with a small baby, apart from f2f meetings of course but could they be on zoom? I worked from home with both of mine. As I was self employed I didn't really have a choice. It also meant that I had practically no maternity leave. Maybe you could take 3 months off and then do a phased return working from home for 3 months? Much easier to do when baby isn't so mobile, and they do sleep! I made my phone calls during nap times during the day and caught up with other stuff in the evenings. I'm not saying it's ideal but it can be done.

Where I work (very large organisation with good HR department) if someone was wfh with a baby or even a child and no childcare they would be dismissed.

It depends on funded hours.

The advantage with a childminder is continuity of care with one person. Nurseries especially in London are having staffing problems. Plus your baby will be the only baby the childminder can take care off. (This also a disadvantage as you have to find one with space for a baby.)

The downside is you have to take your holidays when they take theirs.

In regards to the childminder being ill - mine has adult children and is into fitness. She has taken off about 1 other day every 2 years and for that day she has offered another childminders service my daughter knows.

When I suggest using a childminder to a former colleague he found one who was bilingual like his family, and was pleased with the little outings etc his child went on.