Due to have a baby, but feeling concerned about how to afford maternity leave? Here are 10 ways to help you survive financially on maternity leave.
After delivering your baby, you’ll be faced with the daunting reality of determining, “How will I pay my bills while I’m not working?”
Having a plan of action will help you get through maternity leave peacefully and free of financial ruin so you can enjoy the birth of your child, recuperation time, and bonding time.
Let’s take a look at some of the best options and actions you can take to get prepared to tackle your financial obligations while enjoying your maternity leave at the same time.
This post is all about how to afford maternity leave.
This post may contain affiliate links, which means I’ll receive a commission if you purchase through my link, at no extra cost to you. Please readthe full disclosurehere.
HOW TO AFFORD MATERNITY LEAVE:
FAMILY MEDICAL LEAVE ACT
1. Secure Your Job with FMLA
First and foremost, the most important thing you can do is request your FMLA paperwork from your employer.
Doing so will allow you to protect and secure your position while you’re on maternity leave.
Requesting the documents about 2 weeks before your delivery should suffice.
Complete and submit it by (or before) the deadline you are given.
FMLA is unpaid, job-protected time off for specific family and medical reasons (including childbirth). This time off lasts up to 12 weeks in a 12 month period.
Family Medical Leave (FMLA) can be utilized by employees who have:
- worked for their employer for at least 12 months
- andworked for at least 1,250 hours in the most recent 12-month period
- and work at a location where the company employs 50 or more employees within a 75 miles radius.
If all these statements are true of you and your employer, then you are qualified to use FMLA.
For more information on the FMLA and family leave policies, contact:
U.S. Department of Labor, Wage, and Hour Division (you can follow the link here)
Phone: (866) 487-9243
HOW TO AFFORD MATERNITY LEAVE:
SAVE
2. Savings
In my opinion, the single most effective method for preparing for maternity leave FINANCIALLY is investing money into your OWN savings account.
Having money in a savings account will give you complete control over how much you can use and when.
You’ll have access to your funds without any restrictions or waiting periods.
In contrast, other methods (which we’ll discuss later) may only disperse a small, specific weekly payment or come with a waiting period of some kind.
Credit Karma provides further details about why having a savings account is advantageous.
How Much Should You Save for Maternity Leave?
The standard allotted time for maternity leave is 6 – 8 weeks.
A vagin*l, aka “normal” delivery, is typically granted 6 weeks off.
Cesarean delivery is typically granted 8 weeks off.
Considering you may be out of work for 6 – 8 weeks, I would recommend saving at LEAST 2 months’ worth of income (possibly even 3 months).
If you save the equivalent of 2 months’ salary for yourself, then you can rest assured that you will be covered financially for your entire leave, whether it be 6 weeks or 8 weeks.
If you opt to save the equivalent of 3 months’ salary for yourself, you have some wiggle room if you decide to take off some extra time.
Perhaps you want to take off a couple of weeks before your due date and/or a week or two extra after your 6-8 weeks off have lapsed.
*Of course, you’d want to make sure this additional time off wouldn’t pose an issue with your job.*
Here’s a sample idea for how to begin this 2-month savings plan:
Let’s say you find out you’re pregnant when you are about 1 month pregnant (that’s when I did), that gives you about 8 more months to save.
Set aside a quarter of your income each month for the next eight months so you will have a 2 month’s supply of income available upon delivery of your baby (0.25 * 8 = 2).
This may require cutting back on some unnecessary expenses.
Maybe sacrifice Comcast cable for only Netflix instead, eliminate or reduce going out to eat (it’s so much more expensive than buying groceries), or cut back on any extracurriculars you can live without, such as less frequent tanning.
If this isn’t possible, you may want to pick up extra hours at work or get a second job.
Then you could use the income from this additional source solely to supply your maternity fund.
How Should You Save for Maternity Leave?
I recommend depositing your maternity funds into an online bank account such asChime. These bank accounts will serve you well for two main reasons.
One, the money will be kept separate from your other funds. And it will be less accessible (it can take 3 business days to complete a withdrawal), which means you’ll be less tempted to dip into it.
Two, online bank accounts tend to yield far higher interest rates than your average physical bank or credit union.
So why not keep your money more secure and earn a bit extra from it while it’s there?
Most physical banks provide an annual percentage yield (APY) of about 0.1% (less than this in most cases).
**APY is your accrued interest, i.e., the extra money that accumulates for letting your money sit in your account, resulting in slightly more funds than you originally put in.
** On the other hand, an online bank account can provide an average interest rate as high as 2% APY.
Credit Karmaprovides details about where to open a savings account and things to consider for good savings practices. You can find a list of Nerd Wallet’s Top picks for online bankinghere.
You can deposit funds into your online bank account in four different ways:
- Deposit your money locally and then transfer it electronically
- Buy a money order
- Deposit cash in a linked ATM
- Load cash on a reloadable prepaid debit card
You can follow this link to nerdwallet.com for a more detailed explanation of how to use these depository methods.
Likewise, you can withdraw your funds from your bank account in four different ways:
- Withdraw funds via a debit card
- Online transfer
- Check request
- Wire transfer
You can follow this link to finance.zacks.com for a more detailed explanation of how to use these withdrawal methods.
HOW TO AFFORD MATERNITY LEAVE:
BENEFITS
3. Paid Family Leave OR Short-term disability insurance
Having a benefit plan to utilize is another helpful source of income while on maternity leave.
These benefits can be employer-provided Paid Family Leave (rare), employer-provided short-term disability, or privately-obtained short-term disability.
Some of these options are less flexible and less convenient than having your own savings.
You will have to file paperwork and/or file a claim and await your payment.
But they’re still viable options and MUCH BETTER than NOTHING.
If you are enrolled in a benefits program with your job, you can use those benefits as an income source while on maternity leave.
You can either use this plan to fund your leave (IF it is enough) or to augment your savings funds so you have even more money to work with while out of work.
Paid Family Leave (PFL)
There are 11 states (plus the District of Columbia) that uphold paid family leave laws, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
If you reside in one, then you are in luck. They are California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and Washington.
If you live in one of the participating paid family leave states, here is acomprehensive guidethat details the states’ eligibility requirements, the maximum length of paid leave, the benefit amount, and more.
The amount of pay depends on a specific percentage (that varies per state) of your average weekly wage (AWW).
As stated above, these funds could work well to supplement the money you have already saved or supply the bulk of your income during your leave.
Just be mindful of your budget or supplement from additional sources since these payments will amount to less than your full salary.
Short-term Disability Insurance (STD)
If you do not live in one of the states that provide paid family leave, your next best option for receiving payments while on leave is a short-term disability insurance policy.
This type of policy can be obtained by either enrolling in a workplace benefits plan offered to you by your employer, or you can obtain a policy on your own from a few different private insurance companies (but there are more restrictions applied to obtain the policy privately).
Employer-provided STD
With STD through your employer, you can sign up for this benefit whenever your company has open enrollment for benefits.
Whether you’re already pregnant or not, it doesn’t matter; just get signed up when it is time for enrollment.
Foremployer-provided STD, the rates provided to you will vary depending on your company’s plan for its employees.
Some policies may pay 60%, and others are willing to pay up to a full 100% of your weekly wages.
There is still a wide array of percentages you may encounter depending on your company’s plan.
Privately-obtained STD
An online resource website known asesupplemental.comcan help match you with private providers of short-term disability insurance in your state.
I would recommend using their services to assess the best policy provider available to you.
With STD from a private insurance company, you CANNOT be pregnant already.
Most require that you obtain the policyat least9 months before conceiving.
Otherwise, your policy will not be honored when you give birth (or you won’t be approved for one in the first place).
Although that requirement is more inconvenient, these private policies tend to offer a much more reasonable payout than what your employer policy may offer.
This higher payout can sustain you much better while you aren’t working.
Forprivately-obtained STD, the rates provided to you depend on the insurance provider you choose and the monthly benefit rate you select.
Ultimately, you get the freedom to select just how much of a payout you’ll be able to receive.
Other types of privately-obtained STD
There are private-STD policies that can work in tandem with your employer’s policy.
They will bridge the gap between when you go on leave and when you start receiving your benefits.
In other words, this kind of policy will provide payments during the waiting period that your employer policy imposes before releasing your benefit payments.
For example, if you are due to receive benefits from your employer but have to endure a waiting period before your payments are released, Mutual of Omaha offers a plan that will provide payments to you while you’re going through the waiting period.
You can choose a plan that will pay you $1000-$5000 per month and pay on your policy accordingly.
There are other short-term disability insurance policies that cover your leave entirely instead of just bridging a gap.
They include their own waiting period, and then benefits can be distributed to you while you’re off from work and under a doctor’s care.
HOW TO AFFORD MATERNITY LEAVE:
ASSISTANCE
4. Government Assistance Programs
There are assistance programs that you can use to ease your financial strain while you are not working due to your leave.
These programs can help provide a large supply of food, supplement food, provide some cash, or help reduce energy costs (i.e., help lower or pay a portion of your energy utilities).
If you pick up an application from your local Department of Public Welfare (DPW) (aka local County Assistance Office (CAO)) or apply through your state’s DPW online portal, they will provide a list of other services they can potentially assist you with.
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
SNAP benefits are also known as food stamps.
The objective of SNAP is to help stretch your food budget and provide nutritional foods.
You can typically buy any foods you want as long as they are not already prepared.
So no hot rotisserie chicken or any other foods that have been cooked by the grocery store.
To be approved, it is necessary to meet the requirements.
Apply for the benefits, and your local county assistance office will respond with an approval or denial of your application.
If you happen to be denied, they’ll provide you with an explanation.
You can also appeal this decision if you find it necessary.
To apply ONLINE, you can follow the link below:
Link to SNAP application by state
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
TANF benefits are also known as cash assistance.
The objective of TANF is to provide cash for a limited time to low-income families working toward self-sufficiency.
You do not necessarily have to be low-income to benefit from TANF.
You can apply while you’re out of work during maternity leave and possibly get approved for a small lump sum payment to assist you.
In my experience, it was $350.
You must meet the requirements to be approved.
Apply for the benefits, and your local county assistance office will respond with an approval or denial of your application.
If you happen to be denied, they’ll provide you with an explanation.
You can also appeal this decision if you find it necessary.
To apply ONLINE, you can follow the link below:
Link to TANF application by state
Energy Assistance (LIHEAP)
Energy assistance programs can help offset utility expenses during your leave.
You can apply for assistance while your income is far lower than usual (if that’s the case) or if you are an individual who has a limited income in general.
LIHEAP stands for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program.
It helps you meet your home’s heating and cooling needs through a grant provided directly to your energy company (not directly to you).
The amount of funding provided varies from state to state.
If your state provides an option to apply ONLINE, you can follow the link below (if not, details for your local office/contact person are provided):
Link to LIHEAP application by state
Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)
WIC is another supplemental nutrition program for “low-income” women, infants, and children.
The income doesn’t actually have to be that low.
You can have a standard bachelor’s degree salary and still qualify for WIC – I know this for a fact.
They will consider your household size plus your pregnancy (if you’re pregnant when you initially reach out for their assistance).
From there, they will determine your benefits package.
The WIC program is far more specific than SNAP.
They will provide you with a list of foods you’re eligible to receive.
You’ll also receive a booklet that specifies exactly what types of foods you’re permitted to purchase with your WIC benefits.
To use the benefits, they will provide you with a chip card for completing your transactions.
They will explain how to use the chip card to access your benefits.
Benefits will be provided to you while you are pregnant and continue while you are breastfeeding (if you choose to do so).
Once your child is born, WIC will also provide benefits for the child until age 5 if you remain financially eligible for that entire duration.
Link to find your local WIC office
HOW TO AFFORD MATERNITY LEAVE:
SIDE HUSTLE
5. Earn Extra Money with a Side Hustle (or Overtime)
You can pick up a side hustle or work overtime.
If your job doesn’t permit overtime or if you work part-time somewhere, you could pick up some extra shifts.
First, ask for extra hours.
If they are not forthcoming with providing them to you, then you could volunteer to be their contact person.
As the contact person, you could fill in whenever there are call-offs or they need additional staff.
If your current job isn’t easy to work with regarding additional hours, you could apply for a second job.
Or you could apply for an independent contractor position.
This extra income can be used to fund your maternity leave savings account.
For Example:
An easy independent contractor side hustle to obtain is a newspaper route.
There are always ads in our local newspaper in my area in search of drivers to deliver papers.
You can pick up as many routes as you have the time and energy to feasibly complete on time.
The amount the route pays varies depending on how vast the area you’re delivering to and how far it is from town.
Some may be local enough that they are basically within walking distance.
Others are further out in country areas surrounding your town and undoubtedly require a vehicle.
All you have to do is call the number listed in the ad and let them know that you’re interested in the route.
Provide proof of car insurance on your vehicle for the routes that definitely will require a car.
It’s called amotorroute in my town if you definitely need your own car to deliver the papers.
If it’s called ametroroute, you don’t technically need a car for this route, you could – in theory – walk, and for this, they will NOT require proof of car insurance.
If you would prefer a side hustle you can do from home, then you can follow thislinkto a blog that consists of multiple pre-verified (for legitimacy) jobs that you can do from home.
The website is calledworkersonboard.com.
There are multiple other sites you could search for freelance, independent contractor, and part-time work from home.
But I likeworkersonboard.comsince she has researched that the jobs are legitimate.
You may find it easier to do tasks on sites like Upwork, Fiverr, or Clickworker.
Do what works best for you.
HOW TO AFFORD MATERNITY LEAVE:
BORROW
6. Apply for a Personal Loan
Applying for a personal loan wouldn’t be my first choice, but if you think you will find yourself short of funds to support yourself through your leave, this could be a useful option.
It’ll work best if you can get approved for a loan with a relatively low-interest rate.
Here is alistof top picks from NerdWallet that include the Annual Percentage Rate (APR) ranges and minimum required credit score to apply for each.
Bestegg.comis an accredited site that can check your rates without affecting your credit score and has a personal loan section specifically related to providing for a baby.
You can follow thislinkto find out more about applying for a personal loan to take care of necessities surrounding your baby’s birth.
When you apply, you will need to provide contact information, employment history, residency history, landlord’s contact information, and the reason you want the loan.
I didn’t get super specific about this.
They provide a drop-down box of options to choose from for this.
You can choose help with bills, moving, other, etc.
Even if you select “Other,” you don’t have to get overly specific.
You can select “Other” and fill in “Vacation” as your reason. Whatever works for you.
They’ll contact you to follow up on some of your information.
At this time, they will request recent pay stubs to verify your income.
These can be faxed, emailed, or scanned to the branch.
If approved, you may be required to set up a direct debit for your future payments initially.
If you’re dealing with a local branch, you can eventually deactivate direct debit (if that better suits you) and pay online at your convenience instead or drop off cash payments to your local branch.
My Experience
I, too, wondered how to afford maternity leave.
With my second child’s birth, I applied for a $3000 loan to help me survive during maternity leave.
As I mentioned before, not really my first choice, but it proved useful.
It helped me pay bills while taking my full maternity leave so that I could have time to recuperate and bond with my new baby.
I applied for a personal loan through Lendmark financial. There are a couple of local branches where I live.
So I was able to apply online and then go to the office to sign my paperwork and pick up my check once they called to inform me that I had been approved.
HOW TO AFFORD MATERNITY LEAVE:
REFINANCE
7. Refinance Your Auto Loan or Personal Loan
Another way to give yourself additional money to work with while on leave is to get your car loan and/or personal loan refinanced.
In so doing, you should ultimately end up with a lower interest rate.
The most useful result at the time of your leave is that refinancing these loans will push out your payment due date.
This will make it so that you won’t be required to submit your upcoming payment for 1 – 2 months from the time you refinanced.
Refinance Your Auto Loan
I found that this was an option when I checked on my credit information atcreditkarma.com.
There was a page on their site that recommended I could save money by refinancing my car loan.
The site also included links to some recommended refinance companies.
Since my top concern was how to afford maternity leave, I decided to pursue it.
I applied to the listing that offered the lowest potential payment (Autopay) and got approved (even though my credit is not the best).
The loan specialist told me that I wouldn’t be required to make my first payment on my refinanced loan until close to 2 months later (which was SUCH a relief during my maternity leave).
My car payment was also lower, and I was able to add a warranty and gap protection to my loan.
**Note – Gap protection covers the amount of money that is left unpaid after your insurance company makes a payout on your car. This means if you total your car and your insurance company pays out $3000, but you owe $8000 on your car loan, gap protection will cover the $5000 that your insurance company did not.
Not having to pay your auto loan for two months while you’re on maternity leave, PLUS having a lower car payment when you do, could greatly benefit your financial situation while you’re not earning your typical income.
Instead, you can use that money for other bills or necessities you need to provide for your baby or yourself.
Refinance Your Personal Loan
I was able to refinance my personal loan with the same loan company that originally provided me with the loan.
You can just call your personal loan provider and ask them to look into refinancing your personal loan.
I was approved for this option as well. My loan payment decreased from $140/month to $125/month.
Once refinanced, I did not need to make a payment until the following month.
So I ended up with a lower payment overall and a month-long break from making the payment.
Again, this frees up money to spend on other obligations while your income is taking a hit.
HOW TO AFFORD MATERNITY LEAVE:
DONATIONS
8. Online Fundraising –Go Fund Me
Another option is to start a Go Fund Me campaign for yourself.
You could launch the campaign yourself, or a friend or family member can do it for you.
Explain your need to take time off from work to recuperate and bond with your baby without risking financial ruin due to an inability to work and/or lack of support from your company regarding paid leave.
However you choose to describe your financial need, gofundme.com is an option you can consider.
HOW TO AFFORD MATERNITY LEAVE:
FAMILY
9. Reach Out to Family Members for Help
Some individuals can gain a substantial amount of support from family members.
In some cases, you may need to ask, and in other cases, they may just offer.
I have a great friend who received significant help from her parents during her first pregnancy.
She gained help in multiple ways, and maybe you could use one of them for your situation.
Here are SOME of the ways her family helped:
- She was able to live with her mother during her pregnancy, the birth of her first child, and the entirety of her maternity leave and beyond.
- Her mother bought a lot of items to fulfill the baby’s needs.
- Both of her parents helped her get a loan approved for a house of her own.
If you have a close, supportive, financially stable family, this could be an option for you to get through your pregnancy, maternity leave and ultimately Get Ahead.
Or just get a little support from them in whatever way you need to help you survive your maternity leave.
HOW TO AFFORD MATERNITY LEAVE:
WORST CASE SCENARIO
10. Return to Work Early
Lastly (and most reluctantly), I would say if there were no other options for you, then return to work before your 6 – 8 weeks are up.
If you feel up to it AND you get your doctor’s approval, you could cut your maternity leave short to avoid drowning in financial overwhelm.
I avoided this option for my second and third deliveries, but not with my first.
After my first child’s birth, I could only afford to take off 3 weeks of work before I returned to work part-time.
Another 3 weeks after that, I went back to working full-time.
*If you’re lucky, the delivery of your child may coincide with an income tax return, which would be a bonus.
And there you have it! 10 ways you can survive maternity leave FINANCIALLY.
I personally have used some combination of all of these methods for each one of my 3 pregnancies, and I survived my leave of absence without experiencing any financial catastrophes.
I am very confident thatyou can too!
This post was all about how to afford maternity leave.
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- 4 Ways to Get Your Baby’s Father Time Off for the Birth of Your Newborn
- 7 Things to Put On Your Postpartum Care Plan To-Do List
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