maternity leave

[MissN8]

How long does everyone think they will take for mat leave? I would like to take 9 months but will see how money goes as my works pay isn't great.

 

[Kiki1993]

I would take as long as I could and just try to make it work, we could pay the bills with OH wage and pay necessities so we hope he gets a promotion by the time we try because we want me to be a SAHM, if we can afford me to stay at home I wont return at all after mat leave, if we need the money i would probably try only go back part time, childcare in my town is very expensive! I worked in a private nursery in my town a while ago and my wage there was about 900 a month working 40 hours a week and a full time place for one child was about 800!

 

[Angel_blues]

For us, maternity leave pays 55% of your gross wage or up to about $500/week (before taxes) which ever is smaller. It is available for 52 weeks from the first day taken (even prior to birth) or 50 weeks from day of birth. Up to 17 weeks is available to the woman only and the rest of the 35 weeks is deemed parental leave available to either parent. Only 2 weeks can be taken by both parents at the same time.

I am hoping to take as much as I can but my wage is about $1440/week before tax. We are paying off all debts (except mortgage and car payments) before ttc. Once trying we will be in saving mode with that, maternity leave pay and child tax credits we would receive as well, we are hoping we will manage comfortably. If any unexpected expenses come up, it would put a big wrench in that plan...

 

[aimee-lou]

I'm currently at 2y9m of leave lol. I was supposed to go back to work after ds2, then fell pg with ds3 at 5mpp and plans changed as i couldn't find a job and once i got to 6m pg i gave up. Noe paying for 2 under 3s childcare would bankrupt us so i haven't gone back.

With ds1 i took a full year.

 

[Kitteh_Kat]

I took 7 weeks offered by my old company so I could collect a few more full paychecks, then turned in my two week notice and became a SAHM. I intend to remain home until we're done with kids and they're in school at least. It's just too hard to be away from her!

 

[apreslaube]

I can only get 3 months. Unpaid technically, but I have to use all of my benefit time (sick days, vacation days) during that 3 months. Oh, the good ol' U-S-of-A.

 

[tverb84]

I can only get 3 months. Unpaid technically, but I have to use all of my benefit time (sick days, vacation days) during that 3 months. Oh, the good ol' U-S-of-A.

I'm glad I live in Canada where mom's get a full year off and I think it's paid.

 

[Angel_blues]

I can only get 3 months. Unpaid technically, but I have to use all of my benefit time (sick days, vacation days) during that 3 months. Oh, the good ol' U-S-of-A.

I'm glad I live in Canada where mom's get a full year off and I think it's paid.

I completely agree! And yes it is paid! Quebec laws are different, but when aren't they lol

 

[skycastles]

My company gives 2 months paid maternity leave. I'm thinking of taking a sabbatical so that the baby will be at least 6 months before I have to send it to childcare. Not sure how we will manage our overtime work though, because childcare ends at 6 and I work till about 8-10

 

[sherwood]

...

 

[meg_bellamy]

I'm hoping for at least a year, hoping to stretch it out longer if possible. We get some paid maternity leave and I will add my sick leave and annual leave onto that and then live off savings for as long as possible. I would LOVE to be a SAHM til kids reach school age but that's not going to happen

 

[butterbaby]

It would be ideal to be a SAHM until kids are in school but I'm hoping to have 3-4 kids so that would be a long time out of the workforce. Since I'm a nurse there is lots of opportunity for part-time work so I will likely do that after my 1 year is up. I'm guessing eventually childcare costs may be an incentive to stay at home so we'll see..

 

[cupcake.]

I would love to be a sahm until my kids reach school age as well, but that won't really be possible i think and also would make it harder to get a job when i do want to get back into work.

I would love to stay at home at least a year and a half, maybe stretch it to two years and then go back part time.

But it all kind of depends on if i can find a job after my trainee program in june/july and what kind of contract i would be given. If it's only a one year contract i obviously wouldn't receive paid maternity leave. So that part is actually something we'll have to play by ear.

OHs work pays pretty good already and he's looking at probably receiving a pay rise in january 2016, so with that and our savings staying home at least a year is definitely possible without having to cut back too much.

 

[prettybirdy27]

I can only get 3 months. Unpaid technically, but I have to use all of my benefit time (sick days, vacation days) during that 3 months. Oh, the good ol' U-S-of-A.

Oh, I'm in the USA too and I get 3 months unpaid, but I didn't know about having to use up my PTO in that time too? Wow, that blows. I hope that's a company thing, because I've called my insurance and they never mentioned that.

 

[Kitteh_Kat]

I can only get 3 months. Unpaid technically, but I have to use all of my benefit time (sick days, vacation days) during that 3 months. Oh, the good ol' U-S-of-A.

Oh, I'm in the USA too and I get 3 months unpaid, but I didn't know about having to use up my PTO in that time too? Wow, that blows. I hope that's a company thing, because I've called my insurance and they never mentioned that.

Probably a company thing. My old employer offered all full time employees short term disability for free, which covered 6 weeks of leave at full pay, and then up to 30+ weeks at 65% or something like that. Most of my coworkers would use their PTO to extend their paid leave if it was for maternity reasons, but the STD kicked in first.

 

[kksy9b]

I took 12 weeks paid. Wound up off 3 weeks before birth (DS was 2 weeks late) and then 9 weeks after. I handed in my 2 week notice with 2 weeks left in my leave. All I had to do was go in for an exit interview and that was it! I love being a SAHM and will do so until our second (not TTC until 2016) is in school. It can get very lonely at times and I wish I had more adult interaction. But I wouldn't change it for anything and is the right choice for our family

 

[apreslaube]

I think it varies from state to state and company to company. I work at a non-profit which are known to not have the best benefits. We have mandatory free short term disability, but I don't know how/if it pays. I will have to check on that! I think the biggest thing FMLA offers is job security for 3 months.