Maternity pay varies from company to company but it starts with statutory pay in the UK, which allows eligible employees to take up to 52 weeks of leave, although only 39 are paid. The first six weeks are paid at 90% of the employee’s average weekly earnings (before tax) and the remaining 33 weeks are currently paid at £184.03 or 90% of your average weekly earnings (whichever is lower). It’s not much to live on, which is why benefits packages that offer more are so important.
Natalie Whitcombe, an HR specialist and founder of Whitcombe HR, says, “Some companies offer enhanced maternity pay, which can range from companies paying six weeks full pay, six months full pay to even one year full pay”. This can make all the difference when financially planning around children.
In the UK, a person usually has to have worked at a company for a certain length of time before becoming eligible for the maternity package. Companies decide this for themselves and determine their own timeline. This may be a number of months but is commonly a year and may be as long as two years. Some companies offering enhanced maternity pay require a person to stay in a job for a minimum amount of time after returning to work, otherwise they may need to pay some of their enhanced benefits back.
Many people don’t know what they’re entitled to until after being offered a role. It can feel risky to ask these questions in a job interview. “Discrimination shouldn’t happen — it is illegal — [but] some women might worry about asking questions about maternity benefits during the interview process out of fear it’ll jeopardise their application,” says Whitcombe. She recommends asking to see a company benefits package after an offer has been made — that way you can find out the details without having to ask directly. Even then, maternity benefits won’t always be specified.
Having a child is life-altering. And in this financial climate, where declining birth rates are being put down to would-be parents being unable to afford children, the decision to grow a family often ends up being inextricably intertwined with work. Yet it’s still taboo to mention children while job hunting. While fathers and non-carrying mothers have to consider this too, we still live in a society that typically places more parental responsibility on birth mothers.
From January to March, we typically see the job market pick up as many people consider making a job switch. With this in mind, Refinery29 spoke to five women about how maternity pay has affected their career choices at different stages of the journey into parenthood.
*All names have been changed to protect identities.
Through her job, she is entitled to three months at full pay, three months at 50% pay, then three months at the statutory rate. Her husband’s salary and their combined savings have helped them keep up with their mortgage.
Maternity pay was a huge factor while making my decision to leave my previous job and apply for the job I’m in now. My previous job had a really good maternity package and it was something that I debated staying for, but I also felt I had stagnated and that I couldn’t grow in my role. My head was telling me to stay but my heart was telling me to go. I saw this other job come up and it did scare me going for it, not knowing what the maternity pay would be and that me and my husband were thinking about having children in the next couple of years.
I didn’t feel comfortable asking what the maternity benefits were during the interview process. Huge respect to women who do [ask] but it’s a really competitive job market and like hell was I going to show a card that might put me at a disadvantage. When I got my contract, it said the maternity package was on the company’s internal portal, so I couldn’t even accept the job knowing what it was. It felt risky and reckless but I’m incredibly fortunate that my husband has a decent salary and we managed to have some savings. My friend said something that made me realise men don’t think about this or let it stop them accepting a job, which made me throw caution to the wind and go for what I wanted.
It’s frustrating having to keep maternity pay in mind while job hunting. It’s a complete injustice against women. If statutory maternity pay in this country was more fit for purpose, women wouldn’t have to think about this. Statutory maternity pay is currently £184 a week. That doesn’t touch the sides of the bills in the current cost of living [crisis]. It’s limiting women’s job potential.
Her company provides 13 weeks at full pay, 13 weeks at 50% pay and 13 weeks statutory.
Around a year ago, I was working within a team that I just didn’t gel with. It was quite limiting in terms of prospects and I didn’t appreciate my manager’s style, so it was a difficult spot to be in. If it was a different point of my life, I would have moved roles without hesitation, but where I work we have extended maternity pay. This is something none of my other friends has so I feel incredibly lucky. I also get private healthcare, which is a huge plus.
At the time I knew children would be on the horizon, so I really had to weigh up the pros and cons of moving roles. Most maternity packages come after a certain number of years of service, so if I did move, I’d potentially have to wait another two years for any maternity pay. This felt like a huge setback so ultimately I chose to stay despite being very unhappy.
Thankfully a different opportunity came up within the business so I have since moved teams. My partner and I are currently trying for a baby so we hope that wish is granted soon. I’m really glad I did stay as I think it was a much better move long term. My new role and team offer more options and support to help maintain work/life balance and achieve my goals outside of work. This role is also a lot more flexible so I feel I’ll be supported if I do want a reduction in hours to spend more time with my future children before they start school.
She is entitled through work to 12 weeks at full pay, 12 weeks at 50% pay, then statutory pay for the remaining 15 weeks.
At the time I joined my company, maternity leave was a hypothetical concept and only became something I had to seriously think about how it applied to my life once I became pregnant. It’s quite a generous policy compared to other workplaces but I am still concerned about how we will manage financially towards the end of maternity leave, as I would like to have as long as possible with my child for their developmental benefit before returning to work and thinking about childcare. However, we have a mortgage to pay, and statutory maternity pay will not cover my portion of that at all, never mind bills.
I have always loved the idea of parental leave because I don’t feel non-gestating partners get enough opportunities to spend time with a new child, and gestating partners should have more flexibility to plan their own leave. It feels as if we would have to make a financial sacrifice for my partner to have “permission” to bond with our child.
I had to disclose my pregnancy earlier than planned because there was talk of possible redundancies at work [in the UK you can be made redundant while pregnant or on maternity leave if there are no suitable roles for you to move into]. I felt very conflicted and like I had been backed into a corner, forced to disclose out of fear of losing my job rather than on my own terms when I was ready and feeling comfortable. This also meant telling my manager six weeks before I was able to tell my own parents. It makes me even more anxious about miscarriage because if I miscarry, it would put me back in the redundancy pool immediately and I don’t know how I’d cope with losing both my baby and my job within that space of time.
Her place of work offers enhanced maternity pay, with 22 weeks at full pay, then 17 at statutory.
I would never ask about this in interviews because I genuinely believe it will go against me if employers think I’m planning to have children before I start the role. I would always look to see if I could find the info before applying for roles though. And it’s definitely put me off opportunities to advance my career if the benefits aren’t good.
I’ve found lots of companies don’t offer enhanced maternity pay until you’ve been at the organisation for a set period (six months to a year seems to be standard but I’ve seen some say two years). In the past this hasn’t really bothered me as I wasn’t thinking about having children imminently, but it’s definitely something to be mindful of now. I have friends and colleagues sticking it out in jobs they’re not super happy in because they know they want children soon, and moving jobs and having to wait until the enhanced package kicks in isn’t worthwhile. Some of my friends have waited until the offer stage to negotiate a better maternity policy. One recently turned down a job because the organisation couldn’t, or wouldn’t, accommodate her request for better than statutory pay.
I’ve focused on my own salary and benefits as I’m used to being financially independent. But I’ve been encouraging my partner to look at paternity policies too when he moves jobs, because that can also vary hugely from organisation to organisation.
She gets 26 weeks at full pay, a £100 baby bonus, and dependants added to her private medical policies for free.
My place of work is phenomenal and very forward-thinking in terms of benefits, which is why I chose it as a job change. I knew at the age of 30 that I needed to change roles and consider family planning. That was a big question I asked in the interview process, which can sometimes be taboo to bring up.
Statutory pay in my opinion is unliveable and without enhanced maternity pay or significant savings, I would’ve definitely struggled. I’m glad I career-changed when I did, and it was the best choice I could have made to be stress-free postpartum. Before moving to my current job, I stayed in previous roles for longer than I should have to build up a money pile in order to afford my own maternity leave (as my previous employer just offered statutory). Once I moved it was a game-changer for job security and benefits, so I didn’t have to worry anymore.
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