How did you cope & for how long?

Casper81

Not sure if this is the best (or right) place to put this but I'm having a bit of a freak out!

I have just found out that my employer only pays SMP with no extras and as a F/T worker on a salary of £23k (and main earner in the household), i dont think I can live on £117 SMP per week let alone look after a family!
My other half's solution is to just have the 6 weeks off at 90% of the salary...but selfishly, this may be my only chance at motherhood and i wanted longer than this off!

I need to ask....

1. How did you cope?

&

2. How long did you take off?

Sorry if i sound terrible x

jacksons_mum

you dont sound terrible!

i took 6 months off on SMP, the tax credits help, you get extra in babys first year and i found the baby hardly cost anything, friends and family bought him plenty of clothes so all i really had to buy for him in the first 6 months was nappies.

honeypop

I will only be getting Maternity Allowance instead of SMP so don't even get the 6 weeks at 90%, we are having to save up each month to be able to afford me time off after the birth. I know tax credits etc help but I don't want to rely on them as some people have had problems with this and we want to know we have the money there, so are trying to put by as much as possible before the baby is born.

Even so, it looks like we'll only be able to afford me to have 3 months off afterwards. It would have been longer, we waited until I was in a good position in my job and with a good salary before having a baby, then I was made redundant at 9 weeks and had to take a much lower paid job and lose SMP so our original plan went out the window!

fernliebee

I would agree with the help of tax credits, and the low cost of a baby. I just bought the essentials and did as much mse-ing as poss ie washable nappies, b/f etc. I also tried to buy as much as poss while still working and worked up until my due date in a very physical job- so was shattered but it was worth it. Also look on entitlled to site as if you are main earner you might qualify for other benefits- not ideal but needs must and if you have been working you may be entitled? Hope you get it sorted as being at home with your baby is such a short precious time.

Glamazon

Casper - thanks for asking this it is something I also wanted to know.

My contract stated 'see our maternity policy' but at the time there was no mention of SMP or anything so with it being NHS I assumed it would be full pay. However, new policy out states SMP only!!!

I plan to fight my case when I announce I am pg and see what I can get.

I am on slightly more a year than you and my OH earns similar but we pay £1000 a month mortgage which is manageable atm. I am only 7 weeks pg so am doing as much overtime as I can in work, plan to work right up until the birth and plan to buy most stuff second hand - we have already got a never been used carrycot, changing unit, baby bath and 3 bags of babygros for £20!! I have cut right back on things to try and save enough to pay the bills and my car for at least 4 months after the initial 6 weeks.

When I return to work I plan to continue full-time but look at dropping to 35hrs and try to work them over 3.5 days - 3 x 8-6 and 1 x 7.30 - 2.

I haven't even looked at tax credits yet.

My main plan is to get paid mat leave or at least half pay and argue that the contract wasn't clear and the policy has changed since I signed my contract.

HTH

MrsTinks

I earn £35k before tax and because hubby has a good income too then we won't qualify for any tax credits at all! So I'll get 90% for 6 weeks then 50% for I think it's another 6 weeks and then SMP... that might seem generous but it's a drop of nearly 75% of my salary. Bearing in mind we have a mortgage that has to be paid and debts to repay too then it's definitely going to be tight. I have an alternative income that counts as self employed so I can carry on doing that when on maternity to keep up the money coming in.
It sucks

margaretclare

To save money on baby costs: breast-feed!

Don't use disposable nappies.

Everything else that a baby needs can be bought second-hand. Look in the local paper, go to a local mums' group, start knitting! Encourage friends and family to buy practical things i.e. not all in the same size! Often there will be this rush of enthusiasm and parents get more than they can use of the first size and nothing after that. Ask older mums how they did it - it was possible!

tessie_bear

i got full pay for a bit then 90% then half pay then maternity pay spread over 9 months...then nowt ....i didnt go back and 3 years on we are doing ok....i think it all depends on your outgoings also childcare is very expensive and i wasnt prepared to work to pay a nursery iyswim.....good luck

Nicki

margaretclare wrote: »

To save money on baby costs: breast-feed!

Don't use disposable nappies.

Everything else that a baby needs can be bought second-hand. Look in the local paper, go to a local mums' group, start knitting! Encourage friends and family to buy practical things i.e. not all in the same size! Often there will be this rush of enthusiasm and parents get more than they can use of the first size and nothing after that. Ask older mums how they did it - it was possible!

The trouble is though that even without the addition of a new baby, most families have commitments such as mortgage and bills which take up a large proportion of their income. It's hard for anyone to last for long on half their family income (or less if you are the main wage earner) unless they have savings put by, or lots of discretionary spending in their monthly outgoings which can be cut. Yes, babies can be done quite cheaply, but the same can't necessarily be said for a lot of the other stuff.

nadnad

MrsTine wrote: »

It sucks

i don't think it sucks at all. Each person makes the decision to become pregnant and knows (or should know) what money will be coming in at that time. I think maternity benefits are ample, and whilst it is great if your employer has added benefits such as full pay - they are under no obligation to do this, it costs businesses (esp small businesses) a lot of money when someone goes on maternity leave.

I planned ahead for my pregnancy and we made sure we had enough in savings to cover everything, and as such I'm now off since last March and have had enough to give myself about 90% of my previous wage each month until April. I understand I'm very lucky.

OP, you really should have checked the policy before you got pregnant! Most employers dont give any more than they have to. I know it must be extra hard for you as you're the main earner. How far along in your pregnancy are you? Can you knuckle down and really save? Is there any overtime you or OH can do? Could OH get a second job? Can you work right up to you due date and then take paid holidays as part of your time off?

You arent being awful wanting as much time off as possible - its natural and its a wonderful thing to be able to spend time with your baby.

MrsTinks

Exactly Nicki - that's exactly our problem well problem... I have "plans" in place for topping up income etc but it's certainly not ideal that I have to. And it smarts when in Denmark you get a full year maternity on FULL pay... bah humbug...