poor maternity leave

[HAPPYJOBO]

I have been working for my company for almost 5 years. Im 25 years old, married last year and own a house and was overjoyed when i found out i was pregnant last year. I am now 6 months. I have been told that all i get from my employer is statory maternity pay which consists of 6 weeks pay at 90% and then �117 a week for 33 weeks. Having a morgage and bills to pay, i can not physically live off of �117 a week so all i can afford to take off is 6 weeks. My employer at the time said they would be flexible as i work from home sometims anyway. Now i only have 3 months off they said they wont give me any flexibility and all i can have off is the 6 weeks and i have to come back to work. I am devestated, ive been so stressed and cant stop getting upset about it, knowing that just in 6 weeks im supposed to get over child birth and then bond with my baby in a matter of weeeks and then hand my baby over!

Does anyone have any advice as i feel inconsolable. Im not one for claiming off the state as ive worked hard all my life but does anyone knoe what i can claim once i have my little bundle of joy?

Joanna :(

[bednobs]

you will no doubt get tax credits to help you with childare costs.

[Goodsoulette]

117 quid a week will be topped up with tax credits. You will still be counted as working full time so you will get a higher rate. You will also get about 20 quid in child benefit.

call 0845 300 3900 to get your pack sent out now, you can then fill it in as soon as you have baby.

Apply for these as soon as your child is born and hopefully they will come through quickly before your 90% is over. You may even find that you could survive long enough to take additional maternity leave.

[Bohne]

Stop stressing yourself!
It's not good for you or your baby!

With a normal birth you don't need six weeks to get over it.
(I went out the day after my son was born!)
And you don't need six weeks to bond with your baby.

So if that is all that's bothering you, you really don't need to worry.
I went back to work when my son was nine weeks old.
I would not have gotten a penny had I stayed at home.

[anderlee]

Oh i feel really sorry for you joanna. Are you on your own??

I asked my mortgage lender if i could have a payment break while i was on maternity leave and they gave me 6 month payment holiday. Its worth a try, ask your lender.

Good luck

[redcrx]

as far as i know they cannot make you only take 6 weeks but the figures you quoted are correct. You can take up to a year off if you can afford to and can go back whenever you want after the first 2 weeks.

You should be entitled to tax credits which will also cover some of your childcare costs if you use a registered nursery or carer and you will also get �18 a week child benefit too.

[Psychick]

I believe child benefit has just gone up to �20 per week. Not much, I know, but every penny helps :)

Bohne, I think youll find she is wanting to spend as much time as possible with her baby once its born. No one is disputing how long it takes to get over having a baby and we all know bonding is different for everyone, but I think youll find she is find it upsetting that she will not get to spend as much time as she wanted with her new baby.

[HAPPYJOBO]

anderlee - I have spoken with my morgage lender and sadly i cannot take a payment break as its something they do not offer

I appreciate all your feedback. Ive found myself off work today with stress,im so desperate to be a good mum and provide for my baby. My husband i work so hard just like all families do. We earn about the same so sadly he cant back me as much as he would love to. Ive worked out that my monthly outgoings, for bills and morgage is �695 and thats what my partner also have to pay in. I then worked out roughly how much i would get in benefits and its �628.32. So that wouldnt even cover my bills let alone any money to care for my baby

The sad thing is both me and my husband arnt on bad money for our age, we have a joint income of 49k, i just cant see a way of being able to have up until the end of December off to be with my baby :(

[mowglette]

Hey Jo,
I'm sorry to hear about the way they are treating you. In fact I'm pretty sure they are breaking the law by forcing you to go back earlier than you'd like. By law you can take the full year off if you wanted to (the first 9 months being smp apart from the first 6 wks @ 90%).
I have a 4 month old & my company were pretty ****** too.
If i were you I'd contact the citizens advice bureau. You may be able to take legal action against them for this.
www.citizensadvice.org.uk
Hope this helps, try not to worry, if the worst came to the worst you would get housing benefits to pay the interest on your mortgage (depending on your partners earnings) then find another job later on to make up the shortfall. Your baby will only be a baby once so do what your heart says is right. xxxxxxxx

[HAPPYJOBO]

mowglette - work are not foricing me to go back,i could have the full year off but i cant physically afford to have more than 6 weeks off at 90% statory pay is shocking low and ive been to the citerns advice dep today and i only qualify for childn tax credits and child benefit and nothing else. Im more depressed than before i went to speak to them :( Deffinatly going to play the lottery this weekend!!!!

:(

[mowglette]

Hey, Sorry for misunderstanding you,

It really is a sorry state of affairs in this country. I was put in the same situation, I too had never claimed benefits and worked hard all my life. I started looking into the benefits system and realized just how penalized I am, there are a host of extra 'top ups' available to help people financially but due to me being on s.m.p I don't meet their criteria (even though I'm worse off than someone on income support for example). It makes me furious that I'd now be better off if I had spent my life dossing rather than paying my way. No wonder why there are so many people on benefits, the government force you there if you choose to be a full time Mum or even a part time one.