Statutory maternity pay info

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My workplace offers 4 months full pay and then SMP. We have incredibly high rent and rely on my pay for that (I'm highest earner). Will the SMP be anywhere near my pay or a much much lower? I'm aiming to be off for 6 months which means I'll be on SMP for 2 months. I have looked online but it is very complicated so I'm hoping you can tell me your experience.

Thank you

You may be eligible for some UC if your rent is high. SMP will not be the same as your pay. It’s around £180 a week.

SMP is a set rate of £184.03 before tax/NI/other deductions or 90% if your wages if your wages are lower than that. So the max is £184.03 per week gross.

UC is based on your household circumstances so can't advise on that but if you want to post how much your rent is, how much your partner earns, any disabilities, other children and what your local authority rate is for your circumstances people can help.

If you're the higher earner you could go back to work after 4 months and your partner could take shared parental leave instead? Paid at the same rate as statutory maternity unless their company offers enhanced pay

Much much lower I'm afraid, as others have said, about £180 a week. I was in this situation (also the high earner) and I did manage through savings (luckily got a bonus a couple of months before I was due) and by giving myself a new set 'wage' based on what I knew I would get over the course of 6 months.

I set up outgoing specific pots (using Plum) too which helped me - I.e made sure I had a pot to cover my car payments for 6 months, a pot for a haircut, some Christmas spending money etc.

Look into Universal Credit. Just know that the eligibility calculators online are often very inaccurate. Assuming you meet the basic eligibility criteria they advertise, the only real way to work whether you do in fact qualify and how much you’d be entitled to is to apply. It’s a pain, so get your ducks in a row first (bank statements, etc) if you decide to go for it.

The only other thing you can do is try to be frugal as hell and save like mad now if you don’t have a nest egg to fall back on. Work out how much extra you’ll need once SMP hits and how you can cover it. Look into shared parental leave too. Though I definitely wasn’t ready to return to work after 4 months, you might be.

Can you do shared parental leave, and your partner take the months of statutory pay instead? otherwise try and save as much as you can now, to cover the difference.