How much Maternity leave do you plan on taking?

[Amygdala]

You guys are lucky! The school district I work for doesn't pay maternity leave. We are allowed 12 weeks according FMLA without them giving away our position but none of it's paid...If we have any sick days built up we can use those but it's hard to build those up. I have short term disability which will help after 6 weeks but not a lot...jeez!!!

We don't get maternity pay, so I'll be taking 6 weeks of sick pay and then back to work because my husband doesn't work, so only my income to support us all.

Goodness! That really sucks! There's something to write a letter to your congressman about.

Sorry it's so hard for you guys! Makes me feel quite lucky and I thought I was in a sucky situation... I really hope things change for the better for you over there.

 

[kate.m.]

I stumbled across a forum about maternity leave (American) and am shocked and appauled by it! Not just by the fact that you have to use sick days to look after your baby (ur not sick!!!!) but by the attitudes of the people on the forum. Everyone was really against maternity pay being introduced. The OP was basically askingy why america is the only developed country without mat pay- and everyone just laid into her: "Im not working and paying taxes to pay you to sit at home with your kids" "Having children is a life choice- if you cant afford them, then dont have them" "I managed to save up to have 3 months off work- you should be able to do that and look after yourself not rely on state benefits"!!! Even women who had been through the difficulties of having a baby without mat pay were against it! shocking! (And we complain with "how little" we get...)

 

[morri]

Yea- I often see such kind of posts also to toehr topics. But they can still afford it, they dont have a declining growth rate.

Also a reason why I don't like boards which are to homogen

 

[princess_bump]

sounds like your really looking into it well! i'm not going back to work; i'm very lucky to stay at home with maddi and any other LOs we may have.

 

[orange-sox]

I was planning to leave my job after maternity leave at my current job and be a SAHM, and unless there's a major change in circumstances then that'll be the plan with the next

There's no way that OH could be the one to stay at home alone - he is a complete wuss with anything related to vomit

Hoepfully if he's still doing the job he has now, then he'll be home with me for over half the week anyway, but I'll still be the one on sick duty!

 

[JoannePreg]

im 24 weeks pregnant and i havent even thought about this properly yet. I will probably take 6 months as my work gives me 6 weeks full pay and up to 6 months at 50%

my husband will probably stay on full time as he works from home.

 

[tasha41]

I live in Canada,

I get 55% of my pay for one full year... but since I was a student and working only part-time, I get tax benefits that bump my income up to more than I was making before I went on maternity leave. The way it worked out though, I'm entitled to one week more than I can take off on maternity leave (because I went on leave late, had the baby before I was "on mat leave" from work..).. OH gets 1 week off with 55% of his pay!

 

[Kiwichick17]

Both DH and I would get the UK statutory minimum - I'm rather envious of those of you getting additional pay from your employers! However, I do still plan to take the full 12 months... and am currently trying to persuade my employer that it would make sense to enhance maternity pay (although in the current climate it's pretty unlikely they will increase benefits).

 

[Seity]

I stumbled across a forum about maternity leave (American) and am shocked and appauled by it! Not just by the fact that you have to use sick days to look after your baby (ur not sick!!!!) but by the attitudes of the people on the forum. Everyone was really against maternity pay being introduced. The OP was basically askingy why america is the only developed country without mat pay- and everyone just laid into her: "Im not working and paying taxes to pay you to sit at home with your kids" "Having children is a life choice- if you cant afford them, then dont have them" "I managed to save up to have 3 months off work- you should be able to do that and look after yourself not rely on state benefits"!!! Even women who had been through the difficulties of having a baby without mat pay were against it! shocking! (And we complain with "how little" we get...)

It really is amazing how many negative comments I've seen here in the US about mat pay. There is currently a bill in congress to give Federal Employees 4 weeks paid maternity leave. While this doesn't help everyone; I'm hoping it will pass and set an example for other businesses to follow suit. There is a lot of negative comments about the bill though and similar bills have been put forward in the past and failed. Even 4 weeks pay is measly compared to a lot of countries, but it would be better than nothing.

 

[lilmissmup]

Thanks for the information on the increase from next April, defo another reason to try from later this year as I want to take a year off and will only get SMP.

Its still gonna be really hard though as thats only £7037 for me for the year based on todays wage and SMP rates, less than half my wage in a year

My OH doesn't earn a lot either, looking at tax credits today we would get about £84 a month from them and £80 in child benefit.

Mmmm puts me off babies lol.

 

[Pinkgirl]

Thanks for replying have enjoyed reading your replys, just wish it was the same for everyone and we were all entitled to a year off with some pay!

sounds like your really looking into it well! i'm not going back to work; i'm very lucky to stay at home with maddi and any other LOs we may have.

Thanks hun, i guess because its something i want so much i want to make sure i have really thought about it before i get pregnant, as theres no going back once i am! lol

x

 

[mummy_k]

your mat pay looks quite good, am going to ttc in oct and plan to have a full year off like i did with LO not sure of the pay yet but we will just manage like we did with our first xx

 

[shambaby]

I'm taking it all then telling them where they can shove their job. I hate it at my work, we're on low pay and take shit all day every day off thick people who don't understand YOU HAVE TO PAY COUNCIL TAX and YOU CAN"T HAVE BENEFITS BECAUSE YOU EARN 50k A YEAR!!!!

Yeah as far as how we'll manage goes, DH's work have been brilliant. Thy have given him loads of overtime and 50p per hour pay rise, we'll also get tax credits so should be ok

Be careful when you tell them where to stick the job - I've been researching my maternity pay recently and it's not bad, but if I didn't go back afterwards I would have to pay back all but the SMP (which, according to the directgov website is 90% of your full pay for 6 weeks, then 33 weeks at about £123 / 90% pay, whichever is less). Check this out where you work first - you usually only have to go back for a couple of months and can then leave without any penalty. Would love to do that, but will have to go back, probably just 3 days a week though.

 

[Sarahkka]

I'm also Canadian and on EI (our version of unemployment insurance - that's what is used for a year of mat leave). I plan to stay home with Simon until my one year is up, then I will probably go back to work full-time, trying mightily to get knocked up asap!
I need a certain number of hours to qualify for EI again, and I would like the extra income so that I can get our savings beefed up for another year of mat leave. We will also need a family car by then, and there's the education savings to set aside for both babies...
God, there's always something to drag you back to the job, eh?
Good thing I love my work.

 

[Loz75]

I went back after 6 months with Emm but part-time which was fine as I was ready for a break!!! But next time I would definately take 9 months off as Emms wasnt sleeping well and by 9 months she was sleeping better and less dependent, easier to manage.

I didnt want to take a year off as I thought I would lose my confidence at work and it would be hard to get back into the swing of things. I get similar mat pay to you working for the NHS.

I guess also it depends on whether you are going to get free childcare from family or whether you are paying for it. We pay £450 month for childminding and it tends to be more for a nursery x

 

[Tudor Rose]

at my place i get 90% for the 1st 6 weeks the basic SMP till baby is 9 months old. i only work part time and my employers are really good with making my hours flexible. so i may go back sooner and just work the evening shift. i havent decided yet anyway