How do people manage on Maternity Benefit?

[truthseeker]

Im just wondering about this.
My company doesnt pay any money for maternity leave.

If I were single and pregnant the state maternity benefit would not even cover my mortgage repayments, let alone food, heat, light, clothes, nappies etc.....

Given that society has changed so much (I know a number of girls who have become pregnant and been left completely on their own - as in the guy did a legger), so in this situation how can a woman be expected to pay her mortgage/rent/bills and have a child?

It also applies in the case of married or co-habiting couples who decide to have a child - in todays world most couple need both salaries to keep heads above water.

Do people just save in advance?
If the pregnancy is a surprise do people take loans, ask for holiday from mortgage repayments etc?

Am I missing something?

It just seems like its hard for a woman to have a child simply because she might not be able to afford being off work for it!

 

[shnaek]

Babies certainly are expensive! But as to what extent the state should fund people's having children - that is a tough question alright.
As for fathers doing a legger - that's where a dna database would come in handy! If the fathers are known however, they should be forced by law to pay for the bringing up of their child.

 

[ClubMan]

My company doesnt pay any money for maternity leave.

If this is a practical concern to you then look for a new job where the employer does offer partial or full salary payment during maternity leave perhaps?

 

[truthseeker]

If this is a practical concern to you then look for a new job where the employer does offer partial or full salary payment during maternity leave perhaps?

Oh yes, I agree that this is certainly an option, Im asking the question based on the current situation though.

Actually Clubman - just thinking about that and most of the female friends I have who are in similiar jobs (college friends) are in the same position as me - no company maternity pay, so Im not sure how easy it would be for me to find a company that does pay? (I could be wrong, I only recently realised that no pay in the private sector seemed to be the 'norm' among my own group of friends)

 

[truthseeker]

Babies certainly are expensive! But as to what extent the state should fund people's having children - that is a tough question alright.
As for fathers doing a legger - that's where a dna database would come in handy! If the fathers are known however, they should be forced by law to pay for the bringing up of their child.

In all cases the fathers are known, and either have no money or have been asked to pay silly small sums by court. But thats a different issue - during the maternity leave time the girls in question were in a position of poverty for all intents and purposes, as the state benefit was less than half their salaries and less than a third in one case. They were not entitled to any kind of social welfare payments as they all have well paying jobs, and they have all been paying taxes so why shouldnt they be entitled to some state funding?

Im really just thinking aloud, Im not sure what the right answer would be but it occured to me that if I got pregnant, current job and if I had no partner - Id end up homeless because I wouldnt be able to pay the mortgage.

 

[Klesser]

If you are going to be a single parent then you can claim some state benefits while on maternity leave. If your married I dont think there is anything except maybe FIS which has a extremely low means test. Of course the state cant be expected to pay for our choice to have kids but how long will it be before having children will be a luxury that only rich people can afford. I really dont understand why so few companys refuse to top up. Do they not value there employees enough to intice them to come back?

 

[truthseeker]

Of course the state cant be expected to pay for our choice to have kids but how long will it be before having children will be a luxury that only rich people can afford. I really dont understand why so few companys refuse to top up. Do they not value there employees enough to intice them to come back?

Thats kind of where Im coming from - particularly as people are waiting til later in life to have children now, they often have large financial responsibilites to contend with by the time they come around to having babies.

 

[Klesser]

New idea, maybe companys could set up some way of reducing wages while pregnant and then paying them while on leave. Feel free to tear this apart!

 

[Purple]

I really dont understand why so few companys refuse to top up. Do they not value there employees enough to intice them to come back?

These two sentences seem to contradict each other. We always top up salaries and always have but I can fully understand why some companies do not. Essentially maternity benefit is a social cost/benefit (and one I fully support) and just as the individual pays their taxes and should expect something in return so the private sector company does the same. I think it's quite reasonable for then to ask why they should fund something which adds no (tangable)value to their business. Remember that they also have to pay employers PRSI etc on the top up payments that they make.

 

[csirl]

There are probably a lot of answers to the OPs question depending on the circumstances of the couple having the child. I've seen a number of approaches including the following. Most people seem to take 6 months paid leave (whether SW payment or full wages depending on employer) followed by 3 months upaid.

The approach we took when Mrs. Csirl had a child was to make advance payments on as many bills as possible before Mrs. Csirl went on mat leave thus meaning that many things were fully paid up in advance for the duration of the mat leave. If you are dropping to 1 salary from 2, its a lot easier if you only have to pay for the bare essentials such as mortgage and food. This can take a bit of discipline and focus when you are planning on having a child, but is worth the effort.

You need a lot of stuff when you have a child - prams, cots etc. - in my extended family we have a tradition whereby when any couple is having a first child, they give a list of what they need to the extended family who divide the cost/items up amongst everyone - the items are then given to the expecting couple as gifts from the family (most people will want to buy gifts anyway, this is just a more organised approach).

A lot of couples I know made big efforts to progress their careers as much as possible in the 2-3 years before having a child so that their salaries increased a lot during that period & 1 taking time off was not such a big deal.

Apart from the above, you get child benefit, though its not worth much. In most cases you can also claim some tax back - unused tax credits for period of mat leave and if you pay your medical bills in advance (if going private), you can time it to get a nice lump sum tax refund right when you need it.

 

[MandaC]

Our Company used to pay top up maternity benefit and then two people took the benefit and never came back to work at the end (went sick) and that ruined it for everybody else, so no more top ups.

 

[homeowner]

Im just wondering about this.
My company doesnt pay any money for maternity leave.

If I were single and pregnant the state maternity benefit would not even cover my mortgage repayments, let alone food, heat, light, clothes, nappies etc.....

Given that society has changed so much (I know a number of girls who have become pregnant and been left completely on their own - as in the guy did a legger), so in this situation how can a woman be expected to pay her mortgage/rent/bills and have a child?

It also applies in the case of married or co-habiting couples who decide to have a child - in todays world most couple need both salaries to keep heads above water.

Do people just save in advance?
If the pregnancy is a surprise do people take loans, ask for holiday from mortgage repayments etc?

Am I missing something?

It just seems like its hard for a woman to have a child simply because she might not be able to afford being off work for it!

Totally agree, its so difficult for 2 people to cope financially I cannot image how a single parent does it.

You are due from the state monthly:
- maternity benefit
- single parent allowance
- children's allowance

I am sure that doesnt add up to a mortgage payment so for those 26 weeks would you also be entitled to social welfare payments if you are not receiving a salary? I would be shocked if that is not the case because there are plenty of single parents who are stay at home mums and are getting social welfare benefits. If you are not entitled to SW that means that a single parent is better off not working? Thats mad if thats the case.

 

[ClubMan]

If you are going to be a single parent then you can claim some state benefits while on maternity leave.

What specific "benefits" are you referring to? Note that "benefit" is a term normally applied to a PRSI linked SW payment.

I really dont understand why so few companys refuse to top up. Do they not value there employees enough to intice them to come back?

Because they are not obliged to and to do so is a significant cost to the business perhaps? Let's look at it another way. Why do some female employees accept contracts of employment stipulating no salary payment during maternity leave especially when this is a scenario likely to be relevant to them?

Apart from the above, you get child benefit, though its not worth much.

Well €166 CB p.m. (plus €275 ECS per quarter) may be peanuts to you but it's not to me!

so in this situation how can a woman be expected to pay her mortgage/rent/bills and have a child?

It also applies in the case of married or co-habiting couples who decide to have a child - in todays world most couple need both salaries to keep heads above water.

I guess they must cut their cloth to meet their measure/live within their means etc.? Hardly rocket science. Like a lot of things simple but not necessarily easy...

 

[annR]

I guess they must cut their cloth to meet their measure/live within their means etc.? Hardly rocket science. Like a lot of things simple but not necessarily easy...

I agree with this for couples but not for single mums where they are not getting what they should from the father. The original question was

Given that society has changed so much (I know a number of girls who have become pregnant and been left completely on their own - as in the guy did a legger), so in this situation how can a woman be expected to pay her mortgage/rent/bills and have a child?

Without family support I can well envisage a situation where a single woman is barely scraping by - I don't know how they manage.

I only recently realised that no pay in the private sector seemed to be the 'norm' among my own group of friends

My company tops it up but from I hear the norm is not to. I don't blame the companies for this either.

during the maternity leave time the girls in question were in a position of poverty for all intents and purposes

So how did they manage? Even when they go back to work how do they manage with having to pay creche fees? The only single Mum I know would not have managed without the full support of her family - if you don't live near your folks you're in big trouble in this situation!

 

[truthseeker]

So how did they manage? Even when they go back to work how do they manage with having to pay creche fees? The only single Mum I know would not have managed without the full support of her family - if you don't live near your folks you're in big trouble in this situation!

Ok - none of them have been able to go back to work full time and pay creche fees. In two cases the girls mothers took over child minding so the girl could go back to work. In another case the girl went back to work part time and her own father is paying creche fees for the days she works. And another friend has had to give up work for now. Only one was able to save enough money to take the time off to have the baby, cover her mortgage and bills and is now back in work and able to pay a creche herself - although she was not completely deserted and the childs father is making some contributions.

I actually have no family (all deceased) so I would not have family support in this scenario and I am sure there are many women like me.

Clubman - its not so easy to find jobs that pay the top up and if you ask about it in interview you can be sure you wont be offered the job as they will think you are just going to start work and then be off on full pay leaving them in the lurch.

homeowner - I dont know if a single mum would be better off not working but I suspect it might be the case.

 

[Welfarite]

I dont know if a single mum would be better off not working but I suspect it might be the case.

A single mum, with one child, working 20 hours a week at 10 Euro per hour, would have a weekly income of almost €460 per week.

 

[so-crates]

Given that I saw recently an article (tried to find it and I couldn't!) which stated the it is anticipated that the ratio of working-age people to pension-age people in the state will have gone from 6:1 today to 2:1 by 2050, it seems shortsighted that there is such huge disincentives for both single motherhood and motherhood within a relationship (although having a baby on your own is significantly less affordable, it is still a shock to the system for a couple to manage on a reduced income). Of course given the age profile of the current crop of ministers (median age seems to be around 50) it is considerably less important to them than it is to current potential mothers (and fathers) who by and large will be pensionable in 2050!
For myself, currently single and no current prospect of pregnancy, I think that I have a comfortable amount of savings to cover me for that period if anything unexpected or unplanned happens as I would be in the same position, no top ups.

 

[SarahMc]

A single mum, with one child, working 20 hours a week at 10 Euro per hour, would have a weekly income of almost €460 per week.

I agree the OPFP is progressive and encourages single parents to work, but the system of rent allowanance can result in a poverty trap.