How do parents afford maternity leave?

benbenandme

Your tax credits will be higher too if you have a child under one year old

lynzpower

Im so interested in this as OH and I have been discussing when to start a family. We would both like it to be fairly soon, within the next year 18 months or so.

Now the thing is, its not the buyuing bits & pieces, Im fairly sure that we would be able to be savvy/ get freebies etc. this is all OH starts focusing on ( eg buying a cot and so forth) but its not that. its the how on earth can we survive at all.v - eg roof over head & food on table.

Im a fully committed OSer, and our outgoings are very low indeed, the only cuts i can see would be getting rid of contents insurance which im not willing to do. Ive checked entitled to, and if I stopped working we'd lose 1500 a month, but gain 180 in benefits & tax credits. OH makes 13k PA with small bonuses of about 50 pcm . I would have to stay home as we expect complications as im not 100% in the gynae dept and my consultant said it would be difficult for me to plan returning to work early. Additionally, we have no family in london so would have to pay childcare.

Im getting criticised a bit for being to responsible and of course "if you worried about how to pay for kids youd never have them" which I agree with, but how on earth can we survive, 3 of us on only 1k a month, when our rent is 758 ( could not get much cheaper realy in london, this is a 2 bed house which is a bargain/ needs repairing) otherwise it would be studio flat time when we might be able to get one for 675, but we also have a dog so not ideal at all.

I just cannot see a way round this, but OH reckons Im being negative

Justie

would you consider relocating Lynzpower? We moved out of the SE a few years ago as there was no way we could afford to buy a house and having kids would have been just as impossible.

lynzpower

Justie wrote: »

would you consider relocating Lynzpower? We moved out of the SE a few years ago as there was no way we could afford to buy a house and having kids would have been just as impossible.

Well the only places that seem worth moving too would be either back near my parents or near the inlaws. We would only save 100-150 a month in rent , but would definately need cars in either location and salaries are lower.

So in looking at the SOA of it, its likely wed actually be worse off living near our parents ( bournemouth or stockport)

The only people I know who have had babies, either have ended up in huge debts with secured loans and the like, or in one other case the husband is on megabucks of about 50k , so thats not an option.

*shrugs* sometimes I feel like its never gonna happen

Sorry for hijacking your thread OP!

melg1973

13 weeks at 90% actually very generous. We only get 6 weeks and we have a colleague off at the moment who will have to come back after the 6 weeks full time as she cannot afford otherwise. She knew that when she was trying to get pregnant. I am trying to get pregnant and will stay off for the 9 months that I get the SMP of £112.75 a week. Of course there is also child benefit and a little tax credit whatever your income (£20 a week for the first year/ £10 a week after that I believe). Altogether I don't think thats too bad for doing nothing!

squashy

benbenandme wrote: »

Your tax credits will be higher too if you have a child under one year old

PLUS the first £100 per week of SMP/MA is not counted as income, so when you are getting £112 SMP, this is really only classed as £12 per week when they work out your entitlement!

I am getting 90% for 6 weeks followed by just flat rate SMP for the remaining 33 weeks. It will be tough but we can cut out on our luxuries. When I last went on mat leave I decided not to go back, so was earning zilch!

Justie

melg1973 wrote: »

Altogether I don't think thats too bad for doing nothing!

not sure it counts as doing nothing really... :rotfl:

melg1973

Justie wrote: »

not sure it counts as doing nothing really... :rotfl:

hehe, sorry, you know what I mean, getting money without having to go to work..... I can't wait, I've never been able to/had to claim for anything before!! :j

Lillibet_2

Just before I got pregnant we worked out exactly what our bare-bones budget would be then lived on this for a while : it was £250 per month more than hubbys take home pay, this meant we could save the difference from my salary which made up the shortfall of wages once I stopped work plus it proved our bare-bones budget was correct & workable. In 10 months we managed to save enough for me to take 4 years off work:D It did mean a significent change in lifestyle & I've since chosen to go back to work 12 hours a week (which makes up the £250 shortfall anyway) just 2 years down the line.

HTH;)

Ms_Piggy_2

lynzpower wrote: »

I'mgetting criticised a bit for being to responsible and of course "if you worried about how to pay for kids you'd never have them" which I agree with, but how on earth can we survive, 3 of us on only 1k a month, when our rent is 758 ( could not get much cheaper really in London, this is a 2 bed house which is a bargain/ needs repairing) otherwise it would be studio flat time when we might be able to get one for 675, but we also have a dog so not ideal at all.

I just cannot see a way round this, but OH reckons I'm being negative

I know where you are coming from Lynz. We are in a similar situation. We need two salaries to get (and pay!) a mortgage. Child care will be approx £650-700 pcm :eek: (no grannies nearby), so despite having very decent wages between us, we are more than a little bit tight. I can't let that put me off having children tho as I'm knocking on a bit now at 31.

I think part of the thing is that having a young family IS expensive (or certainly means less money) and accepting that as a temporary measure. People DO manage somehow.