Grant for first born...

[tweetyfoo]

^wss didn't mean to sound rude sorry!

Think the point is that once we are on leave most of us are essentially in the same boat but treated differently based on what we earned before ... Would be nice to be entitled to something.

I think it's great you are getting help Kra


Please excuse any typos from my fat fingers!
Tapatalk madness!

 

[calphurnia7]

I agree I am going on SMP so I am getting stung with a denial of a lot of benefits.

 

[Leah04x]

I can see both sides.. Having been employed since I was 15, and never knowing any different, I found myself without a job at 16 weeks pregnant.. Luckily I'm still living at home, so my outgoings weren't too much, but having a baby to save for, I had to have some income coming in..

Knowing nothing about benefits at all, I reluctantly signed on to Jobseekers Allowance.. As I have worked recently I am entitled to Maternity Allowance (not SMP), which is a godsend, as I don't know if I could survive without it!

I think that some sort of benefit/grant should be available for all ladies expecting, whether they're in a well paid job or unemployed.. But I can understand the frustration when you're working and people on low incomes seem to get everything given to them.. Then, on the other hand, you need to take all you can get these days..

xx

 

[ams25]

I believe every pregnant lady used to be entitled to the 500 a couple of years ago, whether you worked or not - as well as a 190 'health in pregnancy' grant I think it was called. Then with the recession the government decided to only make it available to those on benefits.

I totally don't begrudge anyone who needs it getting these grants, but I do think its a real shame that its just automatically based on whether you're on benefits, rather than what your income will be... As a lot of the ladies on here have said, you can work and not claim benefits, but still be struggling just as much as someone who is claiming benefits! The actual disposable income of someone who works may well be the same or even lower than someone who doesn't, and its a shame that isn't taken into account.

On another note, pregnant ladies on benefits get vouchers for free healthy start vitamins, fruit and veg so that they can eat healthily while pregnant, and that does irritate me... Again not because I begrudge it, but because I think ALL pregnant ladies should get it not just some! Pregnacare is costing me a fortune, lol

Oh well! X

 

[calphurnia7]

Well I am the breadwinner too, my husband is looking fo ra job and I go on SMP in 3 months, I don't even want to know what predicament we'll be in if he doesn't find a job as my salary that I earn will be counted for benefits.

 

[twinkles]

I agree girls EVERYONE should get some help especially the grant as it's the tax we all pay that makes it available!
I'm self employed so don't get smp I can just get ma which is approx £100/£135 a week plus child benefit which everyone gets about £20 I think a week, I do nit qualify for anything else so I'm now going to be on £150 a week max, so returning to 30 hours after 6 weeks

On the other hand I employ a girl at my beauty salon who does 30 hours but she would be entitled to maternity, the grant, tax credits, holidays etc...same job same hours just completely different support.....thank god she doesn't want kids!!x

 

[Jayjay027]

While I agree that people on low income salaries should be allowed to apply for the grant, I don't think it should be available for everyone.

By that logic, someone who earns £60,000p/a would be entitled to the same help as someone claiming benefits! That makes no sense to me.

Sent from my BlackBerry 9800 using Tapatalk

 

[twinkles]

Yes but £500 is £500 to whoever it goes to, it's a one off payment I think we all should get, don't think I would be quite so bothered of I was on £60000 mind!! X

 

[SarahCarps2be]

People that earn enough money to cover their ass still need extra help so I think it's good people on a better than low income get it granted.

Me and my OH aren't exactly broke all the time but the grant would help us get the last little bits we needed for the baby and/or put it into a savings account for our baby.


---
I am here: http://tapatalk.com/map.php?1bmx54

 

[Froslass]

Agree x but I do think it should be based on your outgoings and disposable income whilst in mat leave, ie people with bigger wages will have bigger mortgage payment, council tax, possible higher bills if its a bigger house etc so when a woman is on mat leave someone ok a higher wage may struggle to make ends meet just as much iykwim? Esp if they aren't wise with money x

Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using Tapatalk

 

[SarahCarps2be]

Agree x but I do think it should be based on your outgoings and disposable income whilst in mat leave, ie people with bigger wages will have bigger mortgage payment, council tax, possible higher bills if its a bigger house etc so when a woman is on mat leave someone ok a higher wage may struggle to make ends meet just as much iykwim? Esp if they aren't wise with money x

Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using Tapatalk

Exactly how I think!! Well said sweet.
No matter what income you have, people will still struggle whether they struggle every month or not. Any help is grateful I believe.

Like I said before.
Rather than sit there moaning about people on higher wages aren't eligible for it, apply for it, you don't know until you try.
I agree with the point of when we are all on mat leave, yes we will be on lower income so they should take that into consideration. But still.

 

[tweetyfoo]

Totally agree. With my wages me and oh are comfortable. We are in no way rolling in money but can afford to
Go out to dinner or the cinema once or twice a month and pay all our bills, buy what we need etc. however when I'm
On maternity we will struggle .. As I'll be n little after 3 months - my job comes with a lot of extra deductions do smp will be non existent.

I could go back to work after 3 months but I want time With my baby ...


Please excuse any typos from my fat fingers!
Tapatalk madness!

 

[Jayjay027]

To be honest, I think the whole thing needs to be looked at and re-evaluated. I personally don't see why women should be essentially penalised for having a baby and needing time off to care for them. I think we should be entitled to full pay for 9 months.

I also think the baby trust fund and health in pregnancy grant should be brought back.

It seems like greedy ass bankers have run this country into the ground, and our little newborns are the ones paying the price.

Sent from my BlackBerry 9800 using Tapatalk

 

[Sunshine_1]

What's just shocked me following this thread is that you can't apply for it while you have a child under 16 in your care still. 16??? Because I am going to have kept a Pram and a cot and bouncer chairs, steriliser, cloth nappies etc, etc etc for 14 years....through several house moves, a divorce, and a period where I had resigned myself to never having more children.....what a load of crap!!!

I may as well be a first time Mum, if I matched the benefit criteria (although I do agree it should be open to all Mums, regardless of finances), why shouldn't I be able to get it when I don't have anything other than a birth certificate and a sulky teenager to prove that I've ever previously been a Mum.

(Please not, I am not suggesting that second babies should necessarily live in their older siblings hand me downs either, just that the fact you still have things is obviously why this grant is not available to second time Mum's)

 

[Jayjay027]

What's just shocked me following this thread is that you can't apply for it while you have a child under 16 in your care still. 16??? Because I am going to have kept a Pram and a cot and bouncer chairs, steriliser, cloth nappies etc, etc etc for 14 years....through several house moves, a divorce, and a period where I had resigned myself to never having more children.....what a load of crap!!!

I may as well be a first time Mum, if I matched the benefit criteria (although I do agree it should be open to all Mums, regardless of finances), why shouldn't I be able to get it when I don't have anything other than a birth certificate and a sulky teenager to prove that I've ever previously been a Mum.

(Please not, I am not suggesting that second babies should necessarily live in their older siblings hand me downs either, just that the fact you still have things is obviously why this grant is not available to second time Mum's)

My MIL has kept most things like that from my husband, who is 33!! She actually offered me some reusable nappies that she'd used for him.
I was like 'are u freaking kidding me?! Throw some stuff away already!!' X

Sent from my BlackBerry 9800 using Tapatalk

 

[dollface79]

I'm confused... some people tell me i can get the grant where some others say i can not?! I am not working now and i receive no benefits as i am living with my partner who works self employed. My partners 14 year old son lives with us... someone told me that because there is another child in the house i can not get the grant? What?! He's not my son!
So so confused

 

[Sunshine_1]

What's just shocked me following this thread is that you can't apply for it while you have a child under 16 in your care still. 16??? Because I am going to have kept a Pram and a cot and bouncer chairs, steriliser, cloth nappies etc, etc etc for 14 years....through several house moves, a divorce, and a period where I had resigned myself to never having more children.....what a load of crap!!!

I may as well be a first time Mum, if I matched the benefit criteria (although I do agree it should be open to all Mums, regardless of finances), why shouldn't I be able to get it when I don't have anything other than a birth certificate and a sulky teenager to prove that I've ever previously been a Mum.

(Please not, I am not suggesting that second babies should necessarily live in their older siblings hand me downs either, just that the fact you still have things is obviously why this grant is not available to second time Mum's)

My MIL has kept most things like that from my husband, who is 33!! She actually offered me some reusable nappies that she'd used for him.
I was like 'are u freaking kidding me?! Throw some stuff away already!!' X

Sent from my BlackBerry 9800 using Tapatalk

ROFL Can you imagine telling LO that she wore the same nappies her daddy wore all those years ago?

Saying that it was only a couple of months ago that my mother found and threw out my daughters old dummies, when the dummy fairy had come and taken them all those years ago, she hid them so well that it took Mum all these years to find them.