Take parental leave or just resign at end of mat leave?

[PourquoiTuGachesTaVie]

After mat leave I can either resign or take a period of parental leave which could be up to 3 or 4 months in length. This gives me more time to figure out if staying at home is viable before resigning.

But, is there a benefit to resigning sooner rather than later? My income will remain the same (i.e. £0). The parental leave opinion seems too good to be true somehow that I'm convinced I'm missing something!

Will you carry on accruing holiday and pension rights if you are on parental leave?

If you take it all (18 weeks per child, I think) now, you will not be able to use it at any other point (e.g. if you get extended settling at the start of school)

Work don't have to agree to it!

You can only take 4 weeks of parental leave per year under the regulations, although you may be taking about an additional policy at your work

But if the op is leaving it doesn't matter if she uses up her parental leave surely

It's a lifetime allowance, not per employer so yes if she uses it now it won't be available later. It is one of the questions that employers will ask in a reference - how many weeks parental leave you have taken.

Ah well that answers my question "how do they know"
I have to say I don't think I've ever asked or been asked that

Thanks for the replies, it's all very useful. My employer lets you take the full 18 weeks in one go, especially after a period of mat leave according to the HR policies.

The parental leave being a lifetime allowance and not knowing if I'd need it later on makes it hard to make a decision.

I also didn't know about employers asking about it in a reference. Is it considered good or bad to have taken it all, or is it just for info?

I guess it's just for info. In fact, if you've taken it all, they might be quite pleased as there is no obligation on them to let you have any more...