Leaving my partner while pregnant

[Laurashakey]

Hi all,

Me and my partner had roller foster if a relationship when I got pregnant and i finally decided to call it quits.

Me and him rent out a house currently, he says he pays for it more so he isn’t moving out.
As a single mother I need to know about my rights. I do need a roof under my head but I don’t want to live with him anymore, I also do not believe that £152 a week maternity is enough to cover all the life expenses such rent, bills, food, car insurance?
I need some advice if there is any other benefits I am able to claim as a single mother? And who do I need to speak to regarding housing?
I am 25 weeks pregnant and meant to go on maternity when I am 32 weeks due to very stressful job that I am doing.

32 weeks is almost two months before you’re due. I’d really recommend you stay for as long as you can - 2-3 weeks - in order to save as much as you can. Do you get maternity pay from your company or just statutory? Is your home council or private rented and how long is left on the lease? Contact the Citizens Advice Bureau who will be able to point you in the right direction.

You need to go on the 'entitled to' website to get a rough idea of what help you might get and you also apply for universal credit. There is a universal credit helpline you can call for advice on how to go about applying.

I also do not believe that £152 a week maternity is enough to cover all the life expenses such rent, bills, food, car insurance?

No it's not which is why a lot of people can only take the very minimum - its not compulsory to take a year off and you'll have to go back to work as soon as possible

Obviously there is universal credit but not sure if that's affected by you being on maternity leave

Can you not move in with family in the short term?

When I was on maternity I was entitled to claim universal credit as a top up benefit so I got the maternity benefit on my company pay day then later in the month I got my top up benefit.

My circumstances were not much different to yours, I was a single mum too.

I would suggest moving in with family if you can but obviously if they can only have you for a period of time or before the birth of your baby then you need to tell the council or housing and the should try and bump you up the housing list. The council is your best bet I would think.

Try call your local council and speak with the housing officers as I found they bend over backwards for me and helped with a community living allowence which enabled me to get cooker, fridge freezer, beds, cots, carpet for living room if needed and various other things. You may also find some help from social services as they will put in a lot of the forms for you if you struggle with this.

Good luck!

Thank you all.

I get maternity allowance as I haven’t been in this company long enough.
I could move in with my mum but for a very short term as my brother still lives there and she has a new partner now too.
I will look into it, thanks all.
I was going to go on maternity at 32 weeks as my partner earns decent amount of money and was able to cover us, I’ve been stressing throughout my whole pregnancy due to my job so I thought safe way to go about it is to leave at 32 weeks.

@Laurashakey You can apply for Universal credit - which is calculated around the amount of money you take home even when on maternity leave with Statutory maternity pay or allowance.

But as PP has said, try and stay for a little or stay with someone else to save the money. Has your relationship just broken or is there something you can sort out? Is he not concerned as you are the mother of his to be child.