Maternity leave pay/entitlement
Hello everyone,
Posting incognito because I’m a little embarrassed by this.
I’ll be going on maternity leave in Feb and my company pay 4 months full maternity leave. Can anyone guide me through what I need to be applying for?
Like how do I apply for SMP?
Can I apply for universal credit?
When and how do I apply for child tax benefit?
Is there anything I need to be doing right now?
Thank you so much for any help with this. I’m basically having a mini panic attack every few days over this and I’m struggling with the fact that my partner will have to pay most of the bills whilst in on mat leave.
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Hi, has your work given you a breakdown of how your maternity pay will look? Your employer are the ones you will get you SMP from which should be included in your maternity pay schedule. How I did mine was calculated what my out going is each month and then added up everything I would be paid including SMP and requested for my pay to be split equally over the number of months that would cover my outgoings plus £300 for spending.
Child benefit you apply for once baby is born.
Universal credit, It’s usually best to apply:
Once you know your maternity leave start date
When your income changes (e.g., reduced hours/pay)
About 1–2 months before your first payment is needed, because Universal Credit takes time to set up and verify details.
Maternity Pay & UC
Universal Credit considers:
Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP)
Maternity Allowance (MA)
Other household earnings
These count as income, so your Universal Credit amount will adjust accordingly.
You can start the application early, but your first payment is normally made about 5 weeks after you apply, so applying early helps avoid gaps once you start maternity leave.
I hope this proves helpful.
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