Maternity leave

mazwell

Just looking for advice here before I contact social welfare/citizens advice.
I'm 4 months pregnant with my first child and when I go on maternity leave I'll only be getting statutory pay, because I work for a small business.
My husband had to give up his job just over a year ago to care for his father, he got 9 months of carers benefit on his stamps but then nothing because I earn too much for the means test.
When I go on maternity leave I'll only get 230 per week and out of that we pay 100 per week on rent and 50 on a loan. I can't find anything that says we can get extra help for the period I'm not working and I'm worried I'll have to go back to work when our child is very young ie a few weeks as we aren't financially able to manage on just maternity benefit.
It's not an option for my husband to go back to work at the moment unless his father goes into a home.
And before the first comment of why did you have a child you can't afford comes in, I pay well over 230 a week in tax so I would like to think I'm as entitled as someone who never worked, to have a baby.
Thanks in advance for any advice

splinter65

Did your husband actually apply to the Department for Carers Allowance and was refused on the means test ?!?
What did the letter of refusal say?

appledrop

I don't know much about this but definitely remember there was a section on form you filled in if your spouse was in receipt of social welfare or looking for extra support or something like that? Best thing to do is link with citizens information.

alibab

Why only 9 months carers benefit I would look into that it’s usually 2 years . You can reapply for carers allowance with a new means test but it takes months so not sure if any good . The means test for carers allowance is generous so to get awarded nothing at all must mean your wages are good as there is a sliding scale. Only thing I suppose is if you have to go back quickly as a lot of us did when maternity leave was only 3 months is that your husband will be with the baby so will have a parent looking after the baby .

beechwood55

mazwell wrote: »

My husband had to give up his job just over a year ago to care for his father, he got 9 months of carers benefit on his stamps but then nothing because I earn too much for the means test.

Do you mean he got 9 months of Job Seekers Benefit?

mazwell

Thanks for your replies we checked the letter and it was actually carers allowance he'd been on when it should have been carers benefit based on his stamps. He's going over to social welfare tomorrow. Thanks again

splinter65

mazwell wrote: »

Thanks for your replies we checked the letter and it was actually carers allowance he'd been on when it should have been carers benefit based on his stamps. He's going over to social welfare tomorrow. Thanks again

If he was on Carers Allowance then the only reason it would have been stopped is if his father died or if it had been decided that he was no longer caring for his father or his father no longer needed full time care and attention, or if you or he started working and you didn’t inform them, or you moved house and didn’t tell them...
What reason is on the letter for the Carers to stop?

mazwell

splinter65 wrote: »

If he was on Carers Allowance then the only reason it would have been stopped is if his father died or if it had been decided that he was no longer caring for his father or his father no longer needed full time care and attention, or if you or he started working and you didn’t inform them, or you moved house and didn’t tell them...
What reason is on the letter for the Carers to stop?

He's over the income limit. Carers allowance is means tested, carers benefit is based on your prsi contribution and that's what he should have been on

splinter65

mazwell wrote: »

He's over the income limit. Carers allowance is means tested, carers benefit is based on your prsi contribution and that's what he should have been on

Sorry if I’m being pedantic but the means test for Carers Allowance is so generous that you as both his spouse and the sole earner would have needed a weekly gross wage of nearly €1000 for him to have been refused ANY Carers Allowance.
This kind of salary wouldn’t really fit in with a lifestyle involving a mere €400 monthly rent.
Also it’s confusing that you say he got it for 9 months and then it stopped. Was it that you didn’t have that income when he applied for Carers Allowance and then you had a huge increase in salary ?
In your application for Maternity Benefit parts 4, 5, and 6 are for you to apply to have your husband and children considered your dependents and subject to your husbands personal income and savings you will get an amount for them.
But I remain unconvinced as to why your husband is not getting Carers Allowance or Carers Benefit right now as I’m quite sure that unless your on €52000 then that’s the payment he should be on.

mazwell

splinter65 wrote: »

Sorry if I’m being pedantic but the means test for Carers Allowance is so generous that you as both his spouse and the sole earner would have needed a weekly gross wage of nearly €1000 for him to have been refused ANY Carers Allowance.
This kind of salary wouldn’t really fit in with a lifestyle involving a mere €400 monthly rent.
Also it’s confusing that you say he got it for 9 months and then it stopped. Was it that you didn’t have that income when he applied for Carers Allowance and then you had a huge increase in salary ?
In your application for Maternity Benefit parts 4, 5, and 6 are for you to apply to have your husband and children considered your dependents and subject to your husbands personal income and savings you will get an amount for them.
But I remain unconvinced as to why your husband is not getting Carers Allowance or Carers Benefit right now as I’m quite sure that unless your on €52000 then that’s the payment he should be on.

I'm on nearly 1400 gross. We live in a rural area which is why we have very low rent but I still have a very good salary. The issue was my maternity benefit.
We got married a year ago and weren't living together before hand so my salary didn't have to be taken into consideration when he first applied.
When it was, his carers allowance was immediately stopped so we mistakenly presumed that it was because his 9 months of stamps were up.
However having checked, he was on the wrong payment in the first place.
Hope that clears that up for you. Thanks again for your help

lawred2

1400 gross per week?

mazwell

lawred2 wrote: »

1400 gross per week?

Yes

Pacifico

Troll.

splinter65

mazwell wrote: »

I'm on nearly 1400 gross. We live in a rural area which is why we have very low rent but I still have a very good salary. The issue was my maternity benefit.
We got married a year ago and weren't living together before hand so my salary didn't have to be taken into consideration when he first applied.
When it was, his carers allowance was immediately stopped so we mistakenly presumed that it was because his 9 months of stamps were up.
However having checked, he was on the wrong payment in the first place.
Hope that clears that up for you. Thanks again for your help

As I said, he has no income right now so you’ll get him added to your maternity benefit subject to savings in his/joint names.

mazwell

Pacifico wrote: »

Troll.

Why? Because I earn more than you? I've reported your post. I appreciate all the information I received here, these parts of boards are great because people can get relevant information that helps them.
As you can see from my earlier replies it appears that my husband was on the wrong payment. I appreciate all the help that people here gave me.
I pay a fortune in tax every week, so did my husband when he was working. I'm not looking for a freebie, i was asking for advice about how to manage financially for a period of time that would last a maximum of 6 months.
Pacifico, we have a lot of savings. Obviously because of high salaries and low cost of living. But we'd prefer not to touch those as far as possible. Because why should we. We've paid enough in. And we hope that with our savings our kids will be able to be contributors, not takers from society

mazwell

Thank you splinter you've been so helpful I really appreciate it

cee_jay

MOD: Pacifico, if you have an issue with a post please report it rather than calling other posters troll on thread which only serves to drag off topic.

C3PO

Doesn't answer your question OP but I'm surprised that, given your income level, your employer doesn't have some sort of maternity benefit scheme?

mazwell

C3PO wrote: »

Doesn't answer your question OP but I'm surprised that, given your income level, your employer doesn't have some sort of maternity benefit scheme?

No unfortunately. It's a small business so it seems to be standard, I only get statutory benefit from social welfare

beechwood55

mazwell wrote: »

i was asking for advice about how to manage financially for a period of time that would last a maximum of 6 months.
Pacifico, we have a lot of savings. Obviously because of high salaries and low cost of living. But we'd prefer not to touch those as far as possible. Because why should we.

Well why should I or any other taxpayer (who also are taxed to the hilt) fund your maternity leave in the manner to which you are accustomed when you earn in excess of €70,000 per annum and have lots of savings?

Banterbus28

I'm guessing the savings is the reason the carer's benefits stopped as it's capital?

iamwhoiam

Op . You are 4 months pregnant now so four or four and half months to go until maternity leave . On a salary like that most of us could save the bulk of it . So live frugally until then and save half your income . You then get 230 a week from SW and use the €1400 a month ( times 4 is €5600 ) to carry you through for at very least 5/6 months
Then if the father is still out of work he can take over the minding .

iamwhoiam

Who minds your other daughter OP ? Maybe they would be happy to mind the baby part time for a while and you work part time until you feel ready to go back to work full time ? There are always options to be explored and being honest if I had savings I would use them for more time with my baby .As you never get that time back

C3PO

iamwhoiam wrote: »

Who minds your other daughter OP ?

I thought the OP said she was expecting her 1st child?

iamwhoiam

C3PO wrote: »

I thought the OP said she was expecting her 1st child?

So did I !But seemingly not .

ace_irl

According to another post, she has 3 sons, so I think the op might need to clarify. Maybe it's her first child with her partner?

Anyway, that aside, the easiest and most straight forward way to ensure a higher level of income outside your SW is to use savings. If you don't want to use your current savings, consider opening a separate account that you save into from now until maternity leave and then that should give you a nice boost and allow you to stay home and enjoy the new baby with a bit less financial stress.