Maternity ending

Hey! I’m on smp, we’ve never been entitled to benefits before even though I only work part time, we’ve applied for UC as we’re really struggling but I doubt we’ll be accepted as they look at SMP as a benefit 😒 we are only bringing in £2500 a month atm once the mortgage, bills, and food is paid we’re left with minus most of the time as wages just ain’t covering it.

You could try pack in working after your mat leave ends however I’m not sure where you stand as after SMP you have the extended maternity that’s unpaid so you might have to ride through that first I have looked into it, luckily I have free childcare which I’m forever grateful for but my paid smp ends when my baby is 8 months so I’m trying to find a way to fund the unpaid leave as I can’t bear leaving my EBF baby 😞

There’s no help for working families unfortunately and it seems to be we’re struggling the most. I know people on benefits off on holiday ect, days out, makes me sad because we couldn’t even afford a day out atm😓

You can use the entitled to calculator to see if you’d be eligible for any help but you need to be on a low income most of the time. If you choose nursery you get use the tax free childcare which saves you 20%. Other ways are finding a new job in education and having the holidays off so your only paying 38 weeks of the year as opposed to 52 which is a huge saving over the year. Next September you will be eligible for 15 hours free childcare as per the new government childcare plans so depends if you think you could suck up nursery costs for the year or not work and stay at home. Never easy choices as whatever you do the government just make it difficult for working families

I wasnt entitled to any benefits as they looked at my partners wage I was lucky enough to have child care so I could return bk to work other wise it would just be my partners wage we would have to live on.