How to make statutory maternity pay work?
Posted by RepresentativeDue499@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 44 comments
Hi there,
Im due in August and trying to work out my mat leave along with money bills etc
The first 24 weeks of my mat leave is full pay then drops to 13 weeks SMP, then after that, you have the option to take a further 13 weeks but this will be unpaid.
I plan to take the 24 weeks and was planning to take the further 13weeks on SMP but i really dont know how we are going to make it work?
Me and my husband both have fairly well paid jobs but we also have a morguage, car etc to pay for and looks to be SMP is £194 a week. Does anyone know if this is taxed or if thats after tax? I earn roughly £2,200 clear a month so this is a significant drop for me.
Ive been putting money past but dont want to eat into our savings as ive worked out that i need to save around £4,200 to cover the loss of earnings to pay bills etc while im on SMP. My husband is also picking up extra hours at work but unfortunately this isnt always possible for me due to the nature of my job. We love a quiet life as it is, we dont go away big holidays or weekends away, we dont go to pubs and neither of us smoke. We try and budget food shop as it is. I dont get my nails, lashes etc done just a hair trim every 3 months so unsure how else we can cut down on costs to save?
Basically just wondering howww the heck do you survive?? Im trying not to go back early as i want as much time with the little one as possible and also if i do back early, we are then looking at childcare bills as neither of us have any retired relatives which could help us out.
Also seen on other posts regarding child tax credit or something? Can anyone explain this and how to go about it if we qualify? This will be our first child earth side.
Any advice would be appreciated😮💨
Morazma@reddit
I think your biggest issue is that you didn't think of this before getting pregnant?
RepresentativeDue499@reddit (OP)
Bold of you to presume it was planned
RepresentativeDue499@reddit (OP)
Thank you everyone for your advice and help. Sure you might know you get the irritating woodworms like ‘surely you would have thought of this’ and ‘use your savings’ when you dont know peoples circumstances
ProfPMJ-123@reddit
"Basically just wondering howww the heck do you survive??"
You make use of your savings. What's the point of having savings if, "dont want to eat into our savings"?
RepresentativeDue499@reddit (OP)
We dont have a great deal of saving so it wouldnt exactly go very far anyway. We try and keep our savings for things like unexpected car bills, unexpected house repairs eg boiler, washing machine etc not day to day living. As already stated ive been putting money past already so we dont need to do this. As someone commented below also not everyone has disposable income every month to save either. I was just looking for advice on what others did, not shitty comments suggesting what people should do with what little savings they do have🙂
WheresMyFlamingo@reddit
Maybe it's because she had other intentions with that money its a legit question to ask. I dont always have disposable income come the end of the month but I budget well maybe she wanted help with that. 🫡
mu5tbetheone@reddit
Moneyhelper.org.uk and maternityaction.org.uk both had some helpful advice for me when I had my baby nearly 5 years ago. I know a few rules and laws have changed since, so worth checking them both out to see what you could be entitled to.
I did have to rely partly on my savings, but I had planned for that, whilst pregnant, so that wasn't a huge struggle, plus going in on KIT days, one or half a day every so often, made a big difference for my wage packet each month
soshnomore@reddit
Bit of a different situation from yours. I'm due in July and will be on SMP from the start. As a lone parent I'll be applying for UC and essentially topping up my income with that and child benefit. I do plan to take as long off as I can, utilising the full year of accrued paid annual leave (7 weeks) at the end.
At the moment I think it's doable, but I'm still saving now and preparing for cutting back.
Laura2468@reddit
Does your partner get paid shared parental leave? My partners company does so he took the unpaid bit while I went back to work (meaning we were both paid)
Firely919@reddit
I knew I’d be asking to drop down to part time from full time once I went back to work. Knowing that I worked out what I would need to top up my SMP each month to match what would roughly be my new wage and saved that amount before I dropped to SMP. I worked out what I would need to save monthly, set the target on my banking app and made sure I hit it every month. We also made a list of all the bigger purchases we’d need for baby, looked at what family might help with (my parents bought our travel system for example) what we’d be happy getting second hand and what we’d need to save up for. Lists are your friend. We also did a finances audit just before our daughter was born which helped us understand clearly where we stood with income, savings, debt, disposable income etc.
imtiramisu2025@reddit
Im using my savings. Theres no magic way to make it work. Ill be using 12k out of my 25k savings so I can take the full 12 months off.
I knew the financial sacrifice having a kid involves and im ok with that.
smallestengineer@reddit
I took a mortgage break for a few months during maternity leave. Not a choice for everyone but definitely took the pressure off an already stressful time!
emilyyp95@reddit
I had 6 weeks full pay, then the rest SMP, we made it work by putting as much into savings as possible, and relying on credit cards/loans, which we are still paying back 2 years later. We tightened our budget, but I'm the main earner in our house, so there wasn't masses we could do. You have no choice but to make it work.
No-Jicama-6523@reddit
If SMP is your only income, after the first six weeks it’s typically untaxed, as your monthly pay would be below 1000. It would also mean a bit less tax the rest of the year as it wouldn’t use up the full personal allowance. It can also mean over the year you go from making student loan repayments to not making them.
You’ll be eligible for child benefit.
It’s not enough to live on. People do need to plan ahead and save, if you haven’t, or it’s unexpected, it sucks. Some people have to go back to work earlier, but then there’s the cost of childcare.
Embarrassed_Park2212@reddit
Child tax credit no longer exist, you could see if you can claim universal credit. Put your details in at https://www.entitledto.co.uk/ and this will give you some idea.
Try and save as much as you can between now and August. No idea what you budget is like, and unless you have a lot of debt, sounds like you have a lot left over.
What is the point of having savings, they are for when you need to use them. Replace when you are back at work.
bellabanjsk@reddit
I think OP means ‘child benefit’ which still exists at £27.05 a week from April 2026 (roughly £117 per month).
Embarrassed_Park2212@reddit
I see, I didn't think it could be that, thanks though.
Auntie_Cagul@reddit
You need to use your savings.
Whether you will be taxed on SMP will depend on when during the tax year you begin to claim it. Your tax code may be adjusted for the following year when you go back to work.
Have you considered childcare costs for when you return to work?
One last thing.. In the unlikely event that your baby doesn't survive during your pregnancy or afterwards the government will not keep your National Insurance paid towards a full pension. I'm guessing it is because in theory you can go straight back to work - I was NOT in a mental capacity to go back to work for several years when it happened to me. 😢 During this time I was reliant on my husband's salary and my savings.
Your maternity pay will still be paid out if you initially have a live birth at any time during your pregnancy or a stillbirth after 24 weeks. Sorry, I don't mean to worry you, just a warning that you may need to have some savings put by just in case.
treeseacar@reddit
SMP is income so you'd pay tax and NI, however if it's your only income and your work doesn't top up you may be below the overall threshold for tax or NI.
How to make it work, you just have to be skint for a bit. If you can save up before you use savings to cover the salary drop. This isn't possible for everyone unfortunately.
If you can access a long 0% spending credit card that can help. Obviously you will have to plan to pay that off once you return to work. If your partner has a low income they may be entitled to UC top up or other benefits like child benefit. Tax credits are now part of UC. You can look at a benefit calculator to see what you might be able to claim.
There are also lots of free things for babies, you can buy a lot second hand too. But they stil have lots of expenses. We ended up spending a fair bit more than we thought on activities and then coffee with other parents after, just because otherwise we would go stir crazy with only baby to talk to.
You'll get the 30h free childcare from 9 months now if both parents work although it can be hard to find a nursery that can accommodate in some areas. With the free hours in London it makes our nursery about £60 per day (they will charge for extras like nappies and food) which is not as horrendous as it would have been. You can also use tax free childcare to pay which saves a little more.
I earn double my partner but breastfeed so taking just over a year off, which is harder financially, it would make sense for me to go back at 6 months and my partner take unpaid leave. But that is tricky with continued feeding so we have just agreed to suck up the costs to have more time with baby.
a-liquid-sky@reddit
The 30h childcare starts the term after they turn 9 months old, which can mean they're closer to 11 months/a year old by the time they can start.
OP - if you haven't already looked at childcare, get this sorted now! We booked our nursery place when I was 12 weeks pregnant and they were already filling up for September 2027 starts 🫠
treeseacar@reddit
Yes true, fortunately for summer babies it works out closer to actually 9 months. Being born in August or September makes a bit difference to accessing it.
I found in our area there are plenty of nurseries available so looking after baby was born was fine but you do hear horrors of people signing up as soon as they have conceived, especially if relying on the funding. Local parent groups are good for figuring this out.
Own_Buy456@reddit
SMP is usually £187.18 per week or 90 percent of your average pay, whichever is lower, and it is taxable. Many families plan by saving in advance, tightening monthly budgets, and checking government support like Universal Credit or Child Benefit to bridge the gap.
scorchedegg@reddit
Just curious. Will this then result in a taxi refund at the end of year ? As any earnings prior to SMP kicking in will be taxed assuming that level of pay for the full year. Being on SMP will drastically reduce the total income earned that year.
bellabanjsk@reddit
Yes you get a tax rebate if your tax year earnings are under the personal tax free allowance.
kaleidoscopememories@reddit
Me and my wife's companies both only offer stat so 24 weeks at full pay sounds a dream in comparison!
You have plenty of time to squirrel away a little extra money each month.
Everything for us other than mattress and car seats will be second hand. I've also been selling anything I've not used in a while on FB marketplace, vinted and trying to take advantage of bank switching offers.
reddituser040195@reddit
I’m not sure about your company but I had 13 weeks company mat pay they allowed me to split it evenly across the 9 months so I knew I had the same amount coming in each month
Parking_Yoghurt_6703@reddit
I worked out what the total income would be for the year off and then divided it by 12 to pay myself like a monthly amount.
At the beginning I got more and at the end nothing so I wanted to have a predictable and stable amount in our budget every month
bellabanjsk@reddit
Hi OP.
24 weeks paid mat leave is actually brilliant compared to most employers, but you’ve got your maths slightly incorrect. You will be entitled to 15 weeks SMP after your initial 24, not 13, as SMP is 39 weeks.
You can top this up with your annual leave which you accrue as normal during mat leave. Your employer should also offer KIT days (up to 10) which will boost your money a little.
You can file for child tax credits once your first child is born if you earn under the threshold. Make sure you do this in your name for pension reasons. It’s worth about £100 a month from the month your first child is born (not taxed). You will pay tax on your SMP which you can reclaim the following April if you have not earned over the personal tax allowance limit. You should not pay NI, so call your payroll office if you see that charged.
In terms of not touching your savings, I’d say this is quite a naive perspective and will get some people’s backs up. Having children has a financial impact- I personally only received SMP and spent £23K of personal savings to keep my household afloat (unfortunately also was made redundant the week I had my son, so your employer sounds like a nice one!).
Good luck and best wishes for your new baby.
Nobodyimportant6894@reddit
You're entitled to 39 weeks SMP. This will happen after your 26 weeks of full pay is finished, not 13 weeks
bellabanjsk@reddit
This is bad advice. The 39 weeks doesn’t start at the end point of the 26 weeks which is what your comment implies. It runs alongside the employers existing offer (the employers offer is inclusive of SMP not additional to it) so it will be 39 weeks - 24 weeks =15 weeks of SMP remaining after her enhanced maternity pay finishes.
Nobodyimportant6894@reddit
My bad, I was told wrong information then. Will delete
evenifihateit@reddit
What are savings for if not to cover periods where your income has dropped?
LaughingAtSalads@reddit
I had a baby on SMP and Child Benefit only. It can be done. Buy charity shop/second-hand baby clothes (except for shoes) and/or use baby-&-parent group clothing swaps. Charity shop baby furniture (a cot, but buy a new mattress on line;,a high chair; a nursing chair for you) is much cheaper than buying new: we used a changing mat on a high-ish vintage chest of drawers for a changing table and baby clothes that was perfect and only cost £15. Join a food larder/community pantry scheme like SOFEA. Use your savings. Plan on breastfeeding which is cheaper than bottling. Start walking more now. Investigate child care and nurseries now at your leisure so you understand costs and waiting lists.
Firemicrobe@reddit
We took out a long term 0% credit card for both of the periods that I was on maternity for.
My partner's income was used to cover our 'set payments', bills and direct debits, etc. As soon as I gave birth, we immediately started to put all of our our 'everyday' spending on the 0% card (fuel, food, baby purchases etc), and also opened the highest interest east access savings account we could find, and then my salary and whatever (if any) was left of my partner's went straight into savings.
This meant that by the time I went back to work, we had accrued a chunk of credit card debt that was interest free, but we had a decent chunk of money in savings that was accruing interest for us. We were obviously trying to scrimp and save as much as we could over the period of maternity leave, and as we were used to doing this, when I went back to work and was earning more again, we were able to put more in savings and then pay off the full balance as the 0% interest ran out.
Obviously, this is risky and not ideal, if you can afford to have a baby without credit cards or other debt, its preferable, but we're pretty responsible and it worked for us. We were able to pay the first off without issue, but for the second baby, we fell a little short and had to do a short term balance transfer (again at 0%) to cover the last bit. We're due to pay of the last bit in the next couple of months.
However, it's all been interest free, as we're lucky to have good credit scores, and we really couldn't have afforded to be on maternity leave for the full period without borrowing.
Good luck, unless you're loaded there's really no answer apart from spending less or borrowing more!
TheDuraMaters@reddit
You can roll over unused annual leave and you will accrue annual leave when on maternity leave. You can take that at the end of your leave and you’ll get full pay for those weeks.
I’m just back at work from maternity leave. I was off for 51 weeks - 44 weeks maternity leave (5 weeks unpaid), 7 weeks annual leave. I didn’t do KiT days as I didn’t have childcare. My husband is self employed so he’d have to take a day off unpaid for me to take one, which made no sense!
We used a small amount of savings to bridge the gap. I earn a bit more than you but had a less generous maternity package (NHS). Your outgoings do go down when on mat leave. Tiny babies don’t need much, what they do can get second hand and sell on again. Vinted will be your best friend!
Childcare costs on the other hand…£9k a year for 3 days a week and that’s after the government top up. If you’re in England, you’ll get funding from 9 months - I’m hoping Scotland follows!
Hazz3r@reddit
This sort of thing is what the savings are for. You’ve still got a few months before the due date. Scrimp and save as much as you can so you can live a bit more comfortably when the due date comes.
quaveringquokka@reddit
24 weeks full pay is actually pretty good in this country, I got similar (26 weeks) and that was at the top end amongst my friends.
if you're able to save from your normal wage then you can continue saving in the six months that you're receiving full pay. But you will probably need to dip into your savings to get through the year. In my opinion this is one of the situations that savings are for i.e. to have more time with your child when they are tiny! I don't know what is more valuable really
you will find that you actually spend less money in lots of ways once you have a child e.g. you will probably take fewer holidays and definitely have fewer nights out, meals out, cinema trips and date nights. I was crashing into bed at 8.30-9pm for the first six months or more.
if you're in normal salaried employment you will accrue annual leave while you're on maternity leave (including days in lieu for the bank holidays). I took that at the end of my mat leave and had a whole year's allowance to use so I technically didn't use all the 13 weeks of unpaid leave but took about 7 weeks and then had about 6 weeks where I was officially back at work but on annual leave so actually back on full pay. Depends a bit on your leave calendar at work and how it maps onto your due date/mat leave dates but definitely something to think about. My work HR helped me to work this out once I told them I was pregnant so maybe talk to your HR and they should be able to map out your options. It meant that I only had that 7 weeks with no income at all (altho stat mat is obviously not equivalent to a full salary!)
AmayaSmith96@reddit
My enhanced maternity pay was the same as yours. I basically worked out what the exact total figure that I'd be paid over the year, I then divided that by 12 and then "paid myself" that figure each month so I had something every month.
We then looked at all of our bills and with the new monthly figure had a look at what's realistic for me to contribute and then my husband covered the rest. I fell pregnant with my second baby when my daughter was 9 months, I was only back in work for 5/6 months before going back on maternity leave so I didn't really have any time to save!
armenianfink@reddit
We’re having a bay in July, my wife is only SMP for the full nine months. We’re having to readjust our priorities for a while.
a-liquid-sky@reddit
Hey! Also due in August!
Like you, I have 6 months full pay. Both my husband and I are squirrelling away money at the moment (our 'holiday' fund has been rerouted to the 'baby' fund!). My outgoings will be significantly less during those first 6 months so I'm hoping to be able to tuck the majority of that pay away for the months when I'm unpaid
I have cancelled expensive gym/activity memberships too as I won't be using them on mat leave.
while I will still be using my car, I won't be commuting so that's money saved on petrol.
you can claim child benefit straight away, which is just over £100 a month off the top of my head.
KIT (Keeping In Touch) days with your workplace in the months when you're on SMP/unpaid. You get 10 days and should be able to just go in for team meetings etc and claim a full day's wage.
Anyway, hopefully some other tips will be shared here that will help us both out!
Psychological_Bee_93@reddit
You basically just do what you need to to survive. We saved as much as possible whilst I was pregnant and when I was on full pay from my employer as enhanced maternity pay. You get child benefit every month which is about £105. Stat mat is about £194 a week now. I earn about £200 less than you a month, my husband works in the charity sector and had two contracts that made up full time, he now only has one so he earns less then £1k after tax. We now have nursery fees to pay whilst I don’t go back to work u til next month. We’ve used a 0% credit card whilst I’ve been off, we’ll pay that off as and when we can, hopefully before we pay interest but this is essentially our one chance at raising our child. We can always make more money, we’ll never get this time back.
Wiggles_21@reddit
Could you post a breakdown of your budget?
It's not ideal (full paid maternity leave should be much, much longer imo) but since you're both earning well, you should be able to take the hit to your income for a few months. I'm a stay at home mum and we manage. How much is your mortgage, car etc?
May also be worth asking in UK Personal Finance
WillingApplication10@reddit
It gets taxed like normal income. I actually got tax refunded on my first few payments because of the rate paid on my previous income.
You save. We saved like mad. Figure out what your "contribution" each month is and how many months you'll need it for, then both of you save like mad together to hit the goal.
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