Universal Credit on maternity leave

Just in case this might help some of you with mat leave planning, you can get universal credit while you are on maternity leave. With my first I had 6 months full pay, 3 months SMP then up to 3 months unpaid. Husband was studying so had a low income, and we were able to get universal credit towards the end of my mat leave for a few months. So it's worth looking at one of the online calculators to see if you might be eligible as it might help some of you stay off longer if that's what you want to do. I won't need it this time but it was very helpful in my last mat leave.

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This is so helpful, I'm getting same as you 6 months full pay 3 months SMP, and thought I'd have to go back after this! I'm a single parent so universal credit would help massively. Would you mind sharing when you applied for it and how much they gave? 🫶🏼

@Jade I'm so glad it might help you. I can't entirely remember because it was 2 years ago but I know they topped up my SMP a few hundred pounds and then I think it was quite a bit when I got no pay. Like £800 maybe? We didn't get rent allowance though as we have a house that comes with my job, unusually. So you might get more. But you can use this calculator with what your SMP would be or when you get no pay and it'll give you a good idea what you might get. https://www.entitledto.co.uk/ I think we applied a month or so before we needed it but not sure.

Thankyou so much I'll definitely take a look!! Xx

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