Resigning to become a full time mum

Humphris1805

Hi all,

I'm desperate for some advice and information.

I'm currently on maternity leave and due back at work in April, week 39.

Now work have told me the company isn't doing great and given me a warning that I may be transferred to a different site on my return, but have to wait and see.

Already, that location is further and completely a pain for me.

I'm also suffering from severe anxiety at the thought of leaving my daughter in somebody else's care. I'm getting ill at the thought of leaving her.

My husband works full time but can't survive from his wage alone.

So my question is, would I be entitled to benefits of some sort to help a little if I become a stay at home mum until my little one is a few years old and I'm more comfortable to leave her with others?

I know every mum struggles but we're all different and I simply can't leave her, it's killing me.

I don't want to resign to find out I can't get support or I'll have to sign on which I don't want to do, I just want to raise my baby.

Darksparkle

We would need details of your household income to be able to give advice on benefits.

There is no benefits specifically for stay at home mums but there are benefits for children in low income families eg tax credits.

Do you already receive child benefit?

SkyeKnight

If your income is less than around £26k a year you should be able to get some Tax Credits. If your income is less than £60k a year you can get Child Benefit. You can also claim Housing Benefit and Council Tax Support if you are on a seriously low income.

That's pretty much it - certainly not enough to replace a full time income. There is no point in signing on as you shouldn't get JSA after voluntarily giving up your job - and anyway you would be then committing yourself to looking for another job.

Humphris1805

Okay. My husbands income is 23k and that would be our total household income if I resigned.

If that was the case, can I simply hand in my notice and claim straight away?

DigForVictory

To hang onto any extra Maternity Pay above the Statutory amount, you may need to do a month back at work - at which point swing for May as it's the shortest working month thanks to all the lovely Bank Holidays...

While you are there, get up to date on any perks like sight tests etc that maternity hasn't covered, and consider asking for First Aid training & other useful transferable skills. Your employer may not be big enough to afford to train a possibly-temporary employee but see what you can manage.

It's not even a full working month & it could be worth thousands - check!

Darksparkle

Tax credits would initially ask you for the 2014/15 income. You would then be asked for an estimate for this years income (2015/16).

You can deduct the first £100 per week of maternity pay (up to 39 weeks). What dates did your maternity start/end?

Whether you would get tax credits would depend on the income for those years.

It may be that you would not be eligible until April but it would really depend on the exact figures.

suki1964

How about looking at it another way?

How can I make one income stretch to support us?

Come over to the old style board. There's many a family living on much less then £23k , and living well.

Come and join us, you will get lots of help, advice and support

emmsie123

On 23k tax credits would be £25 a week, but obviously they would take your income into account for last year. So you might not get anything.

teddysmum

All new mums are reluctant to let go of their babies,but having resigned from my job , to be a stay at home mum, I was asked to return, when my son was 10 months old to help out for two to four weeks (a colleague was ill), which ended up being two years.


After a few weeks with child minders (one had a newborn pre-booked and one became pregnant herself) my son went to a private nursery and he came on in leaps and bounds, benefitting from interaction with other children.


Being a teacher, asked to work with a reception class for a week, I also witnessed the upsets of some children who had been with just mum from birth. These children cried, refused to join in and were the last to make friends.


Good childcare really can be trusted and really helps children to integrate.

xylophone

Being a teacher, asked to work with a reception class for a week, I also witnessed the upsets of some children who had been with just mum from birth. These children cried, refused to join in and were the last to make friends.

When it was quite commonplace for women to give up work to raise a family ( and even sending under fives to nursery/playgroup etc was not that usual), were reception classes full of crying children?

Poppie68

xylophone wrote: »

When it was quite commonplace for women to give up work to raise a family ( and even sending under fives to nursery/playgroup etc was not that usual), were reception classes full of crying children?

Kids weren't wrapped up in cotton wool in the days, they used to be a lot tougher.