Help during maternity leave?

bexy_v

Not adding to argument as there is no point but I was in a similar position and we were on less pay, never claimed in life, we were only entitled to child benefit of £20 something a week.

I had to go back after 7.5 months, now paying lots of childcare instead..its hard, we got everything in sale or offers with vouchers, cut back as much as possible, doesnt help that husband was on pyacutt thanks to construction industry so any savings we had put by were killed by a broken boiler and car

I now work 3.5 days a week and pay £350 a month in nursery fees lol

I hope you can sort things out.... people are often quick to jump on people with 'middle incomes' but yet to twig that those get NO help with anything... so full whack on hosuing, childcare you name it. ..as for that article... thats exactly whats wrong with this country,,.... people are too used to the thought of being 'entitled' to something..before i get jumped on i was brought up with two parents working, in a council house with good work ethics... it wouldnt be so bad if you then didnt have people like in that article...personally it makes me feel good for working etc, but thats just me..

Good luck with your baby, xx

Stroller133

I don't have all the answers on whether couples on 30, 40, 50 or 60k+ a year should have Child tax credits or other incentives, but even though we are not particularly high earners I thought the previous payments for families earning up to £60k and the new baby element were much fairer and would have meant the OP would have had an additional £90 a month (CTC) for the first year in the same situation about 4 years ago and would have continued to get about £40 a month even when the gf returns to work.
I think a lot of arguments on here are examples of how people don't look out for each other anymore and can only sympathise with others in their own situation.

We are lucky to have family that help with childcare - so we have no cost for this so far - meaning my wifes part-time earnings have been income for the family, not only netting 15-20% when travel and childcare taken into account, but stilling need to work effectively for much less than minimum wage.

Now our daughter goes to nursery for the Pre-school education hours I initially feel judgmental towards some of the other families. They drop off their child at 07:30 and pick them up at 18:30, in addition to this some of them could have a 15-30 minute commute to and from the nursery - surely this isn't right to leave an 'institution' to raise your child? But when I take time to think about it, some of these people may have spent up to 20 years building a career and life and this is the only way to sustain it.

I think our economy and society have changed massively and quietly over the last 30 years. My Mom did not work at all and my dad was not a high earner but we had a enough for them to buy their own house and just about get by. I'm sure from memory that my friends who had 2 working parents all had big houses and nice cars in the 80s.

I am being idealistic - but surely better use of our economy would be for one parent to be able to stay home and receive some financial help from the state and their job taken by one of the many youth unemployed, rather than paying the JSA/Income support or whatever they get. If we are going to give anyone £60 a week for nothing surely a parent looking after their child is better than a youth hanging in the park drinking cider is better for society?

princessdon

You find a way OP

Good luck with it

paulwellerfan

op you havent been back to up date us.
this was such an intresting forum.

BottomRung

Apologies not been back for a while to update. GF is prgressing well and we're about 4 weeks from meeting my son! All very exciting and can't wait. Sadly my GF is being made redundant at present so we aren't yet sure of how we will stand financially but we will have to scrape by somehow as I don't think we're entitled to any government help. I'm even having to use holiday when she goes into labour and has the baby but it'll be worth it.

We will struggle but others will have a worse struggle than us so we can't complain too much. Just wish the redundancy wasn't happening now as it's really quite stressful for my GF.

Bangton

Hi BottomRung and thanks for the update. Does your GF not get redundancy pay if she is made redundant? I believe I am going to be at risk from Redundancy whilst on maternity but as I am less than 15 weeks from giving birth I have now qualified for maternity pay whatever, plus get a payout from work if I am made redundant. So yep it's not great as I love my company but it isn't the worst either?

BottomRung

thanks for reply. yes she will hopefully get a small payout and they have agreed to pay maternity so not all bad. I think my GF is just a bit stressed and worried because she will have nothing to return to in a years time but i'm sure she'll find something. May even end up part time so could work out for the best. At least we get a baby out of all this which is more than worth all the worry and stress.

Oh and best of luck with the baby, exciting times!!