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There’s a lot to consider when you’re about to have a child.
Here you’ll find information to help you – whether you are expecting your first child, about to adopt, or planning your finances for your time on maternity or paternity leave.
Looking forward to the birth of a new baby is exciting. You will have lots of things to consider, including your finances. Here you’ll find step-by-step advice to allow you the time and space to make decisions and plan for the future.
You may have intended to bring up your baby as a single parent, or you might be dealing with the additional difficulties of separation or bereavement. Whatever your circumstances, here you’ll find information to help with some of the things you need to think about immediately.
We hope we can help you take control of your situation. We will cover budgeting and how to manage household bills, and we will also support you in identifying strategies for dealing with debts and give you tips for negotiating with creditors.
Planning your finances is a challenge for anyone having a baby. It can be difficult to work out your best options, but there’s lots of advice and support available to help you make the best decisions for you and your baby.
Trying to organise how your maternity period will work can be complicated, and will depend on what rights you have at work. If you are working, the charity Maternity Action has a useful checker in their section pregnant at work so that you can see what maternity leave you’re entitled to. You can also find out whether you will be entitled to maternity pay. There are checkers for those who are classed as employed as well as for those who are n’t classed as employed – for example if you’re an agency worker, or working as a contractor. It’s also important that you know your maternity rights at work. Maternity Action has also developed three short videos about rights at work during pregnancy and the steps for dealing with pregnancy or maternity-related problems at work that may help you.
First of all you need to find out if you’re entitled to statutory maternity pay. If you’re not you may be entitled to maternity allowance, or another benefit instead. As well as the money you’re entitled to from the government, you may be entitled to contractual maternity pay from your employer. This will be set out in your contract of employment. You can find more information on maternity pay in the Citizens Advice guide on parental rights at work.
You don’t have to repay statutory maternity pay, maternity allowance, or any benefits you receive from the government. If you get contractual maternity pay through your employer, you may have to repay the money if you don’t return to work for a certain amount of time. Check your employment contract for the details.
Once you have found out whether you’re entitled to maternity pay, and how long for, you can look into what other financial help you’re entitled to. Knowing what benefits you could be entitled to and how much they will be is complicated when you’re pregnant. One of the most difficult calculations is what you could be entitled to depending on whether you are returning to work, and how many hours you intend to work. Get in contact with us and we can work these complex calculations out for you so that you know which options will work best for you.
Whether you can get affordable and suitable childcare will be a big factor in your decision about whether to return to work after maternity leave, and on what basis.
Sometimes it’s possible to get some help from your child’s other parent, family members and friends, but often it means paying for childcare. Choosing childcare is a big decision, especially if it’s the first time you’ve had to think about it.
Our Childcare section can help you work through your questions – whether that’s finding a childcare provider near you or looking for financial help for the costs of childcare.
You might be able to get help with the costs of childcare through working tax credits or universal credit.
We’ve put together some of the most frequently asked questions Gingerbread advisers have received from single parents-to-be about rights at work during pregnancy.
Child benefit can be paid if she’s entitled to them whether or not she looks for work. Once she is 29 weeks pregnant, she may be able to get other benefits such as maternity allowance or universal credit without having to look for work. However before she’s 29 weeks pregnant, she’ll normally be expected to look for work to claim universal credit.
If you can show that you have a health condition that means you would have a limited capability for work. You can claim employment and support allowance or universal credit on this basis. You’d have to provide a certificate from your doctor and may have to attend a medical assessment as part of her claim. It’s also possible you could be treated as having limited capability for work if you’re pregnant and there’s a serious risk to you or the baby’s health if you don’t refrain from work.
You might gain insight from the Power to the Bump campaign which has lots of information about health and pregnancy in the workplace, including being made redundant during pregnancy.
You’re entitled to paid time off for antenatal care once you’ve given your employer confirmation of your pregnancy such as your MAT B1 form. Antenatal care not only includes medical appointments but also things like antenatal classes and parenting classes if they’re recommended by your doctor, midwife or health visitor. You should provide proof of these if your employer asks you to do so.
If you feel able to, explain to your manager that you are entitled to time off for antenatal care and that these comments are upsetting. This can be difficult and you could ask for help from a union representative if you have one. You could also speak to your human resources or personnel department if you would prefer not to raise it with your direct manager. You can find out more information about your rights to time off during pregnancy at Power to the Bump.
If this treatment continues you can put in a grievance against your manager. You can get advice on how to this from the Acas Helpline.
If your employer does dismiss you for this reason then you can make a claim for automatic unfair dismissal and pregnancy/maternity discrimination. There isn’t any qualifying period before you can make a claim as you’re protected from your first day of employment. You need to contact Acas Early Conciliation on 0300 123 11 00 before making a claim to an employment tribunal.
There are strict time limits for starting a claim in an employment tribunal. You must apply to the tribunal within three months less one day of the event that you are complaining about. It’s sometimes possible to apply later but only for very good reasons.
The Power to the Bump campaign has lots of material about health and pregnancy in the workplace including being dismissed.
However, redundancy and dismissal are quite a complex area of employment law and there’s some additional protection for those who are pregnant or on maternity leave.
Although employers can reorganise work so they need fewer employees, they must use fair selection criteria and can’t automatically choose you because you are on maternity leave or for another reason connected to your maternity leave. Also while on maternity leave a woman who is made redundant should be offered any suitable alternative vacancy that exists.
The Power to the Bump campaign has more information about your rights in the workplace including redundancy during maternity leave. For advice you can ring the Equality Advisory Support Service on 0808 800 0082.
It can be complicated to work out your finances when you’re having a baby or adopting a child. It’s important to know if you are eligible for benefits and tax credits and when to claim them, so you don’t miss out on money your family is entitled to. It’s also important to know about maternity, paternity and adoption pay so you can plan your finances.
Having a baby or adopting a child may mean that you become entitled to Universal Credit for the first time. See our pages on Universal Credit for information on how to claim this benefit.
Note: The information on this page is intended as a guide. If you are under 25, caring for someone who is disabled or ill, or have a mortgage, the rules can be different. The information on adoptions only applies to adoptions within the UK.
If you have recently come to the United Kingdom, have limited right to be here, or are from the European Union, you might not be able to claim the benefits set out in this factsheet. Get specialist advice from your local advice centre before making a claim. See below for organisations that can help.
If you are a parent and would like to find out more about our Family Grant Scheme please fill in the following form to request a call back.
If you are a parent and would like to find out more about our Student-Parent Grant Scheme please fill in the following form to request a call back.
(01274) 223292
The Work and Kids Project is a not-for-profit social enterprise that is dedicated to helping parents and young families across the UK achieve financial and emotional independence.