Maternity pay

Yeah maternity pay is terrible. Check with your employer though because mine too up maternity pay for an additional 12 weeks to 90% but it varies on employer.
I don't know where you are at but I've been putting money aside every month for the past year or so to top up my pay as it were.

I'd love to have been able to do that but unfortunately my husband works in hospitality and so doesn't know whats happening day to day. And I was furlough for 3 months. Bills have caught up x

Smp is so rubbish. Does your company have a maternity pay policy? Mine was quite generous when I enquired so only went onto smp after 6 months, it wasn’t full pay the whole time but it was decent enough. I also saved from the day I found out I was pregnant to allow me to use when smp kicked in.
You will be entitled to £85 a month child benefit too so make sure you apply for that on the gov website!
Might be worth using the calculators on there see if you are entitled to UC

Yes, maternity pay is terrible. By the time you start maternity leave, Will you have any annual leave left to take? You are entitled to the money if youve accrued it and not used it. I’m sure you’ve not used as much as you normally would given the year we’ve had? If you have, don’t take anymore until you go on leave, so that you can take the money. That’s what I’m doing. Also, you are entitled to 10 KIT days in your 52 weeks off (Keeping in touch days) and you will be paid full time for this. Not much, but all helps.

You are also entitled to have the bank holidays back if you were furloughed over them. We had a lot durijg lockdown. Were you furloughed for any of them? That means a few day’s of pay you can save up for when you go on leave. Just start saving from now. I know everyone’s circumstances are different, but with two of you working, there must be things you can cut back on. Enjoy the rest of your pregnancy x

Only thing u can do is save as soon as you find out your pregnant. This is what i did i put all the money away first id be short of for rent in advance so I can then live off the mat pay. I was also on furlough for months and months but still managed to put some away x

My company says we are eligible for 8 weeks but it’s unpaid... has anyone heard of that??? I think it’s pretty messed up

I’m in similar situation as you, couldn’t save anything since I found out I was pregnant because we were both on furlough so that 20% we could’ve played with, was gone.

Like they said above, check if you’re entitled to UC.

Haven’t done it but you can also apply to something called Sure start I think which is a £500 one off for your first baby, on top of your monthly child benefit

Best of luck xx

I saved a money, and you can apply for uc, little help as well.

If you are getting SMP you won’t get UC I am afraid it will be just child benefits. The only option you have is to save money, if you are a first timer mum apply for a sure grant or see if you have things in your house to sell on eBay.

My partner also is in hospitality and it was a tight squeeze to save but I managed it and my SMP kicks in end of November. So fun times

Maternity leave is the worse where I worked it was up to the company if they wanted to offer it or not. And I didnt know that they didnt offer anything beside the time off. But if I were you I definitely ask all the questions and look at the company hand book

Sounds right yeah. You will get child benefit which is just over £80 pm too. You can do a benefits calculater on gov website to see if you are entitled to anything extra but its very unlikely if you live with your partner & he works full time.

Try to stay at work as long as possible before going on leave so you have longer on 90% after birth, save holidays to use before mat leave kicks in & use some as your last few weeks after smp finishes. Check if your work uses KIT days & utilise them. If they do KIT also double check its paid at your normal rate ON TOP of your mat pay, as they don't have to. Its entirely up to the employer. Look into debt consolidation. Resell old clothes on ebay during mat leave.

Also worth looking at splitting your mat leave with your partner if your a higher earner or his company offers more than smp. You can take it together so the 39w at 19 1/2 at the same time or you do the first 20w & him the next 19w.

I was made redundant so not entitled to smp, and as my husband earns a decent enough wage (that just about covers our bills now) we can’t get the sure start grant or universal credit. Our only entitlement is child benefit. Pray for me! Lol

Also a lot of people at the minute have made use of the mortgage break because of covid but these are actually there all the time they just don’t get publicised as much. So you could get a mortgage break for 3 months to help you out. Same applies for credit and store cards

I was not eligible for FMLA (under 1 year at my job) so I only got 8 paid weeks. I had to run through my savings though because the government didn’t pay me until I returned to work, the checks I was getting from work were $20. When I went back to work I then owed my company money for the heath insurance.

You can get child benefit it’s only £20 a week but it’s better than nothing. Il be in the same boat, luckily my husbands wage can pay the bills but doesn’t leave much left for us to play around with, and haven’t been able to save much due to being on furlough for 3 months in lockdown x

You and hubby can also start saving money now to help cover your share while you're off work? That's what we are doing.

In the same boat as everyone else .... outgoing a month and crazy especially when you gotta pay for child maintenance at near £500 a month. 6 weeks at 90% and then £151 a week thereafter.

I currently take home nearly £1800 a month. All people say is you’ll be fine. How are people even managing to enjoy pregnancy knowing that you could end up homeless if you cant pay your mortgage??

Am hoping to remortgage so atleast we have something behind us. 😭

You can apply for child benefit and UC. I'm in the same boat as you x

Someone told me recently you can apply for universal credit or some other type of benefit to top up your maternity pay so that you can make ends meet. Obviously subject to eligibility but worth investigating x

A heads up if have £6000 or more in the bank/building society you’re unlikely to be entitled to universal credit as I checked gov.uk as a single applicant as me and partner live apart and due to my capital I’m ineligible. Luckily I live at home with my Mum.

I am on SMP currently and last month I was paid £604 based on a 4 week month (the way my first 6 weeks worked out)
This month it is £756 because of 5 weeks plus £21.05 from child benefit a week but that’s paid every 4 weeks. I’m not sure if that helps at all. You can also look at other benefits x

It's a broken system. If you don't already qualify for UC and you have a job to return to then you won't get anything other than the SMP

We’ve had to save since I first fell pregnant so I can top my smp up to make sure we can manage while I’m off, then hoping can claim a small amount of UC once I drop to £150 a week - but a lot of planning and budgeting is needed xx

Is 151,00 per week what you actually getting or is it before tax? 🤣