Not returning to work after having a baby?

Sponge

My wife and I had a baby in February 2006. She started Maternity Leave just before Christmas and hasn't yet returned to work. She was paid all her normal maternity entitlements, but now gets nothing.

We get approx £1000 per year child tax credit (no wtc), plus family allowance (or whatever it is called now).

Our plan was that she would go back to work part time around now, but after looking at child care costs and subtracting these from her wages, she'd be left with under £80 per month, perhaps less.

It just doesn't seem worth it to us. For the amount we'd gain compared to what us, and especially our son, would lose in having him brought up/looked after by strangers, we'd rather make do and her become a full time mother.

So, if she didn't return to work, does anyone know if we (she) would be entitled to any further benefits?

jellycat40

poss more child tax credit if you have lower income and if you earn less than around £16000 you will get wftc. But otherwise you are on your own.

Can your wife get a longer break pay free so that if you find you can't manage she has not lost the option to return.

Louise

Sponge

Our income will be lower, but my gross is over £16,000.

itsmylife_2

You can get some help with child care costs in with the tax credits - the form you filled in would have had a section about child care on it. Someone else will probably be able to help you out further.

We are in the same situation, I have been back to work for 3 weeks now, my little boy was born in March, get the same child tax credit etc. Fortunately in my job I can work night shift and so myself and my husband work child care out between us, though that means less time together as a family - I know that other family members would help us out, but I personally don't like them to feel like they have to. Maybe another family member could take the little one for a while when your wife works? We simply could not afford for me not to go back to work at the moment due to needing to pay off debts.

Just remember that the child tax credit will drop to just over £500 per year when your son is over 1 year old, unless you are entitled to the extra, so that might impact whether your wife needs to go back to work or not...

jellycat40

Well then apart from the fact that you may get a bit more Child Tax Credit you may need to study the boards to look at how to manage on less income.

It is a lifestyle choice. It is nice to stay at home to look after the baby but a good childminder or nursery can be equally beneficial for the baby. However, we are not just talking the baby here. I expect your OH is probably not ready for the wrench and who can blame her.

I worked when mine were little, OH and I worked it between us!!! However as teens they needed me home and that is when I gave up work full time and now I am not working at all as 9 year old needs me to be around. (Very complicated).

Good Luck

Louise

tigertiger_3

http://www.entitledto.co.uk/

Enter your details here to find out how much tax credits/ childcare costs you can claim.

WestonDave

Obviously you are looking at both financial and non financial considerations - the latter will depend on your own situation.

The point I was going to raise for your consideration is that if you are thinking of further children, it may be financially worth your wife going back to work at say 12 months, in order for her to benefit from future paid maternity leave, which incidentally unless she is already over 12 weeks pregnant will be 9 months paid due to a law change from 1st April next year. That extra "free" income may tip the balance in favour of a few days work now or it may not be enough to offset the non financial things you mention.

Sponge

Thank you for all your help, it certainly helps to sort things out in my mind.

WestonDave wrote:

Obviously you are looking at both financial and non financial considerations - the latter will depend on your own situation.

The point I was going to raise for your consideration is that if you are thinking of further children, it may be financially worth your wife going back to work at say 12 months, in order for her to benefit from future paid maternity leave, which incidentally unless she is already over 12 weeks pregnant will be 9 months paid due to a law change from 1st April next year. That extra "free" income may tip the balance in favour of a few days work now or it may not be enough to offset the non financial things you mention.

That's a very good point and something that hadn't occurred to me. We do plan on having a second child, but we're not trying yet. But if we do decide on having one soon, then we'll have to look into this 'going back to work to get more maternity pay'

Are there any conditions on how long she'd have to be back in work before going off on maternity again? Or do you think it will be down to the individual employer and her contract?

My sister has offered to look after our son on Mondays, but I don't want to rely on it. She has her own family to look after and her kids already spend as much time with their grandparents as they do with their parents, so I don't see how adding mine to the equation can help.

My mother could look after him on Fridays, but again I don't want to impose. She already spends a great deal of time looking after my niece and nephew (see above) and I don't want to take her for granted.

WestonDave

I don't think there is any minimum working time, in fact I think if you get pregnant whilst still on maternity leave (which is actually very likely if you don't take precautions!) you can run leave back to back without ever going back to work - this is because maternity leave counts as continuous service, and you will be over the initial 26 weeks needed to qualify.

If this later paid leave is what concerns you rather than financial gain now, and you are willing to accept your son being cared for by others (in return perhaps for some different learning experiences) why not use the additional money small as it is to ensure you get really good care.

Another thing which occurred to me is that if your wife works in the sort of job where progression occurs, the £80 difference now may improve if she gets a higher pay grade etc.

Not an easy decision from many fronts and I am conciously only focusing on the financial as other things are a matter of personal judgement.

Edit:- just re read your post - you may be able to get into a better nursery if your wife works Mondays and Fridays - exactly what we ended up with as those were the only days they could offer because everyone wants to avoid those days in order to get long weekends - just watch the bank holiday issue! That way if your son was ever ill maybe your sister or mother could help rather than one of you having to miss work - again I'm not being cruel but our son has had bugs that the nursery won't take but he's been running around at home like nothings wrong!

highland

A point to bear in mind some employers ask you to pay back some of the maternity pay if you don't return to work so best check your wifes employers rules on that. Not sure if it's a legal thing or what.

Sponge

Thanks for the reply. Fortunately, her employer doesn't ask for Maternity Pay back if she leaves.