A question about : Statutory Maternity Pay
I have posted this as well on the marriage and babies board but someone here might be able to help me.
My hubby to be and I would like to have a baby in about two years' time (ie get pregnant early 2006).
At the moment I am a casual employee at a newspaper. I work full-time hours, five days a week and this is likely to continue without me being offered a permanent contract.
Obviously there are no maternity benefits for me, but even if I was on contract I would only get the minimum six weeks.
I was just wondering what I would get from the government if I had a baby, I know SMP is about Ј100 a week, but would I get this from the very start as I would not have any other income? Or is SMP only for people who have a job and are getting the first six weeks maternity pay from their employer?
My partner currently earns Ј50k and I earn over Ј30k so I'm a bit worried how we will cope with a sudden Ј30k drop in wages!
Best answers:
- DWPExpecting a baby webpage
Babies and children (BC1) leaflet - Thanks, it appears I'd be able to get 26 weeks Maternity Allowance at Ј102 a week.
- Hi
After your baby is born you would receive child benefit of Ј16 odd a week - amount for eldest child
You might want to query if you'd get Child Tax Credit too. It is an extra payment for babies until they are one, but it is to do with your income how much you get and starts tailing off round the Ј50,000 mark - Thanks Spendless, I think you are right re. tax credits, I remember reading once that it is only up to Ј48k. I remember thinking at the time anyway that we wouldn't get them. I wouldn't want them anyway, I think we earn enough without taking more from the governement (though they take enough from us!)
I was just worried that we wouldn't get anything and that would mean a drop in income of Ј1700 a month ! after the baby was born which, even though my fiance earns a good wage, is still a massive amount to lose. Ј400-Ј500 a month in benefits would soften the blow just enough so that he won't have me back out working within four weeks! I'd ideally like to take a year off and then only go back a couple of days a week.
Anyway, enough of my dreaming!
I suppose we'll have to put a bit of money aside beforehand - it is always good to know what my entitlement will be then we can start planning financially for the drop in earnings. - That's up to you if you don't claim - though i personally think you should claim anything you're entitled to. A friend of mine lost out on maternity pay she was entitled to cos she beleived her midwife who had given her incorrect info :
You could always donate the cash to charity if you didn't think you should have it.
I think the income brackets are higher for you to claim CTC for a baby under 1. There's a member on here think her name is irs101 who works for tax credits who might be able to help.
Kids are always more expensive than you think
best wishes - You're right of course Spendless!
We'll definitely be claiming everything we're entitled to - they don't call me tight for nothing. I'm just not getting my hopes up of getting anything means-tested. There are a lot more people worse off than us anyway, even with only one wage coming in.
I just wanted to make sure I would get something because I had a bit of a panic cos I always thought we'd be able to have a baby no problem then when I looked at the figures and our expenses the money didn't seem to go as far as I hoped! Isn't that always the case!
I know they'll be expensive but I'll not be buying my kids loads of ridiculous expensive stuff. Have you seen the article in the Daily Express today about a woman who buys her nine-year-old hundreds of pounds' worth of stuff every week "because she wants it so much"! Ridiculous. -
i think thresholds and amounts change every financial year so your hubby might be just within the higher bracket if he doesn't get a massive payrise ;D
some people who are well enough off claim child benefit/tax credits and put the money into a savings account for their kids for later on in life.
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