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?

@Natpat81 with new childcare changes, if it works out....people will be literally chasing places, especially in more populated areas. We will be with from it fully when kids are 2 years old in 2025, next September it's still worth applying for 15h to secure place. It's massive improvement, with both my girls I had only 15h from 3years old and remember back then women were chasing cesarian sections or inductions if they were due early September just to avoid extra childcare costs for another year....madness lol

You're right that only the government can even out the inequality when it comes to maternity leave. I can imagine that there are very many women in a worst off position than me, considering I'm finding this hard on a higher salary.

To me it still seems not great that my work place only offer enhanced once
you've been there for 2 years, as if getting enough paid time off to physically recover is a privilege you have to earn and not a right. 12 weeks isn't that much still so people aren't exactly going to 'take advantage'. They also bang on about needing to attract more women...

You need to factor in the father paying child support. Most countries pay less and don't allow a year off too.

I'm not sure why taxpayers should pay more because of feckless fathers, which is a common issue on Mumsnet, he's the one you should be asking really. Sorry to sound tough but it's a choice to live in an expensive city

By the way, 2, years minimum employment was normal even 20 years ago to get enhanced, and it was for 29 weeks max post birth leave then, no option for unpaid. I got 90% for 20 weeks, very generous.

I work in the tech industry though where there is a very high staff turnover and redundancy rate and particularly currently. I left my last role because the company seemed very unstable and they were laying large numbers off. I've been in most of my companies 3 - 4 years and that's considered a long time!

Sorry but I don't see why the state should pay for individuals to take time off work to fulfil personal goals.

6 weeks is reasonable.

Really you've chosen your partner, you've taken a job with bad maternity pay, you got pregnant, you went ahead with the pregnancy, I certainly have sympathy but to therefore say that any woman should expect months of high pay without any regard to her own responsibility for her situation seems a stretch.

Yes maternity pay should be

a) paid at a decent rate for all for the first few months and then
b) based on your previous earnings but available even if you are currently unemployed or freelancing.

I seem to remember unemployment benefits in Germany are also based on previous earnings rather than a flat rate for all.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/money/3167861/calls-for-decently-paid-maternity-leave-as-uk-exposed-as-one-of-the-worst-countries-in-europe/amp/
For those who say UK maternity pay is good comparing to other countries...

Bless all the innocents who think the dad will regularly contribute financially. This doesn't happen often in the real world.

Absentee father or not, it's no longer the man who is always the main earner. Statutary maternity seems to assume that the woman is the lesser earner and the family can survive without her pay for an extended period of time. That's really not the case anymore, especially in the COL crisis.

Most other countries in Europe pay more but for a conndensed period of time - I would happily take this any day because no one here is living off only £726 per month!

Also you say taxpayer's money as if I haven't been contributing significant amounts to it for the last 20 years in the hope it supports us when we really need it 😅

We used to pay £2k per month in nursery fees last year (SW London). When the 'free ' hours kicked in it was some relief.

Our maternity pay is rubbish in the UK. Pregnant Then Screwed are doing really good work on trying to change things.

Also so many people here putting it on me and other women who have been left while pregnant - you think I would have got pregnant had I had any idea I'd be doing this on my own?? You think you know better and it wouldn't happen to you?

It could happen to anyone and being left the only earner can also happen to anyone for other reasons like redundancy and death. You never know when you could be on the other side of the fence.

Yes I'm following them and I'm really glad the extra funded hours are being brought it as this will be a huge help to so many families

"In fact, the UK ranks 22 out of 24 countries across Europe that offer statutory maternity leave."

In your case of the father leaving the country, child maintenance becomes unenforceable, but for most, the problem is really inadequate maintenance policies.

there should be an assumed minimum income because there are only rare circumstances someone can not earn at least a minimum wage. Exceptions should need proof.

dropping maintenance because of a drop in income should need to show that similar employment was unavailable or maintenance should not decrease. Simply deciding to earn less should not be justification for paying less.

fathers should be responsible for half of all nursery fees on top of maintenance.

For those who are criticizing OP for making wrong choices etc...it could happen to anyone and because it didn't happen to you so far it may happen in future. I know lots of men, fathers of 2-4 kids, so called brilliant high earners, wonderful father's blah blah blah....only just waiting for kids to grow up so they can wash their hands off relationship. Staying put only because they don't want to loose massive chunk of salary on child maintenance. It's so easy judging others living in own imaginary bubble.

Yep, misogyny are it's worst

Yes this was my first thought. If you're on £726 a month UC will top you up a fair amount, plus child benefit and child maintenance. While not amazing by any stretch, I don't think it's too bad.

OP has already said she won't qualify for UC as she had saved up a good chunk to help meet mortgage and nursery fees.

Though I wonder if it would be legal to pre-pay those savings into nursery and mortgage accounts and therefore have less savings?

I'm due to go off on mat leave shortly and fortunately my work do have an enhanced plan
6 mo full pay
3 mo stat mat
3 mo unpaid
With the plan I'll drop my days on return / may return earlier than the full year so we aren't completely crippled with nursery fees which will be circa 1k a month for 4 days a week as nursery spaces are an absolute premium here. We've already got nursery lined up and baby isn't here yet! No family help nearby to offset this.

It doesn't sit well with me that I'll be a 'kept' woman by DH for final 3 months, been saving like mad to ensure we have a cushion as always been brought up to have my own money.

@Bunny44 I haven’t read the whole thread, but I think 2 years employment is pretty standard for enhanced maternity leave.
But I do agree that the whole mat/pat/shared leave needs rethinking. How women manage I don’t know. To go back to work in London, the salary required to offset childcare is ridiculous.
I don’t think a years full salary is required, personally I would have been happy to return to work at 6 months…..but 6 weeks? Ridiculous

I agree something needs changing. I think more should be taken via tax and allocated centrally rather than through companies, because the burden on companies can make them wary of hiring women, and also because it can impact womens careers by stopping them from changing company/undertaking training etc for career progression while ttc, which can be years for some.
I know someone who worked a permanent professional public sector job for 2 decades, then happened to meet her partner and have her child post 40 while in zero hours work as part of a career change within public sector, so total mat pay was maybe a quarter of what it would have been earlier in her career if that. It just seems harsh and so much the luck of the draw in life, people seem to think women can entirely control when they get pregnant and how their partner behaves, and can just end a pregnancy and get pregnant another time if the timing isn't perfect, and that just isn't entirely true.

I won't get any of that as I explained further up in the thread so it is just £726 a month which doesn't touch the sides.

For reference I've helped people with UC applications in London who are single parents and they are eligible for up to £1900 per month which is deemed the minimum to cover rent, bills and basics, so £726 a month really isn't enough to live on.

@grtyourdues yes totally agree about the assumptions about woman's control over the situation.

I don't agree that better maternity dissuaded companies from employing women. Most families only have one or 2 children these days so the impact is minimal and also its illegal to discriminate against parents in such a way.

Again, I don't disagree with boosting maternity benefits.

But it's going to cost money and we running at a deficit and are in a terrible position as a country because of the culture of dependency on the state.

So if you want more, you're going to have to take it from someone else. Who's that going to be?

Easy to say "give me more". Harder to choose what to cut or who has to pay for it.