Childcare cost and maternity pay worries
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Your official plans. Sorry if this is a ramble lol hope I helped with some of your questions xx
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@Megan Thank you that’s been really, really helpful! Eased some of the anxiety anyway x
Please be aware that the free hours from 9 months old is England only. This does not apply to those of us in Wales. We pay full rates up to 3 years old unless in a flying start area. Unsure where you are but if you are in 🏴 then slightly different over here. X
@Lydia ahhh yes completely forgot to say ! Thanks for mentioning :)
And I claimed universal credit whilst on statutory Mat pay. I also took a 6 month break on the mortgage repayment (had to just pay interest only for that time). That made all the difference for me x
@Lydia out of interest in England if you claim uc they will also pay 85% of your childcare costs once your return to work (as long as you are still getting at least £1 uc) is this the case for wales too? Because obviously depending where OP is from this may be useful to know if they are able to claim uc while on mat leave x
I’m from Wales but live in England. Helpful for others to know though just in case!
@Megan yes that’s still the same re UC. Also if you do not qualify for UC when you go back to work then that tax free childcare saves me a fair bit every month. It’s not ideal but I manage to reduce my bill by around £170pcm so not to be snuffed at… It’s the free hours that the government did differently which is so annoying - they increased it for 3-4 year olds but failed to recognise that we all needed to get back to work much earlier than that 🙄 Also re accrued annual leave - I’m using mine to work part time for 5 months. So taking off a Monday and Friday initially then just a Friday - means I can earn more without having to reduce my hours immediately x
Child minders are cheaper than nursery and there are things you can claim to help with costs, speaking from a nursery perspective you can claim 15 free hours for a baby over 9 months old and from September 2025 a child over 9 months old is entitled to 30 free hours a week which is amazing. You can on top of any free hours claimed then claim 20% tax free child care which will reduce the cost even further. If you were to take full advantage of all these at a nursery your cost will be waaaaay less than you think. Without sounding like your other half lol things do genuinely just have a way of working out. The September 2025 free hours will really help you out in your return to work. I have personally returned part time as while I’ve been on mat leave me and my partner have found we can actually live comfortably with me earning less you may have the same realization but I would rush to think about what you’ll return on yet as you have hntil 8 weeks before your return to tell your employer