taking unpaid leave

pologirl

hi ladies,
im wondering if i could ask some advice pleaase from you ladies who took the unpaid leave,
im debating taking 14 or 16 wks unpaid and i was just wondering do you look back now and wish you had taken less? from a financial standpoint what happens when you return to work? do you pay less tax for a while?

ideally id love to spend the 16 wks with my baby but im thinking of how i will feel a few weeks into the unpaid leave will i be screaming to get back to work. things are ok now but im very bored, and live in a remote area.

the interest rate increases are frightening me although my husbabd says take all the time you can get and is not worried about the bills like me!

whats life like when your back to work full time and have a baby? do you get to see them much? for those of you who didnt take unpaid leave did you regret it? or are did you weight it up?
suppose im looking for abit of advice this is my first baby.
thanks all!

RIRI

OP I didn't take any unpaid leave for financial reasons, and I still regret it 6 years later. You'll never have that time back, my advice? if you can afford it at all go for it. good luck whatever you decide

aniascor

I took all of my unpaid leave and my only regret is that I couldn't take longer. If you can afford it at all I say go for it. They are small for such a short time and it's time you can never get back. Sure it can be a struggle financially but as long as you can still afford a roof over your head and food on the table, then there are more important things in life than money.

crazy cat lady

I took the full unpaid leave and although money was tight, I loved every minute!

Would it be an option to you to take the unpaid leave 2 days a week and go back to work 3?

You could use parental leave to do this either so long as your employer agrees.

I suggest taking the leave and if you want to return to work before the 16 weeks, there's nothing stopping you

Moonbeam

I took 2 months of it and then used my left over holidays to work a shorter week.
I found going back to work with a baby awful,it was incredibly difficult.
Only you know what you can afford and want to do.

silja

I took all my unpaid leave. I had twins and definitely felt I needed it, also pumping didn't work for me and so being home really helped with the breastfeeding (which the cost of formula would also factor into consideration of going back to work...)

Ticky Boo

I took all the leave I could, I think you need to do what feels right for you - if you are really lonely and need the adult company that work brings, then go for it, you do however, run the risk of regretting this down the line as you will have that company back soon enough but your baby is only small for such a short time. Your decision will however, be based on how you are truly feeling now, as if you are that frustrated maybe it would be better to go back sooner rather than later. If you choose to extend your leave - then may be try to make a few more social bookings, meet friends for lunch etc - this always seems like such a challenge when you are managing the logisitics that come with:) your first baby but is very do-able. From a financial point of view, I used the childrens allowance for the first few months to put towards my wages deficit - not much but is definitely a help. Best of luck with your decision

wmpdd3

I'm back at work for 2 weeks, we couldn't take the unpaid leave for financial reasons and so far I hate it. In 2 weeks I have had 4 days where I didn't see her awake at all.

She's 7 months.

There was 3 days in a row where I didn't feed her...

You will never get this time back, take it you'll work it out some how.

The lack of money will drive you to do free things like go to the park and you might end up meeting some other mums.

gowayouttadat

I took all the unpaid leave. I wasn't ready to go back to work when DS was 6 months old. I was very ready to go back once the unpaid leave was finished. It's amazing the difference a few weeks made. I enjoyed going back to work after the unpaid leave was finished, adult conversation, a bit of time to myself etc

holidaygirl

I'm in my 5th week of unpaid leave, I'm taking it all and holidays on top of that, DS will be over 11 months when I go back. It's really such a personal decision and one that really only you can take. I suppose the big thing is can you afford to do it financially?

I had decided from early on I was taking as much time off as possible so set aside some money each week so I wouldn't be broke now. I just wouldn't have been ready to go back at the 6 month mark, where as a girl at work that had a baby the same time as me, she felt ready to go back and she's getting on great. I love watching ds now, there is so much development happening at this stage, and I'd hate to be missing out on it. But I know we are lucky to be able to afford to take this time.

I will switch back to holiday pay for 5 weeks before I go back to work so I will use this time to get ds settled with child-minder (my mum) and I reckon I'll be ready to go back at that stage.

I'm also very rural a couple of miles to nearest village, and there isn't anyone around really, so I can relate to how it can be lonely, luckily my mum & one of my sisters calls almost everyday and I do love the adult company. Perhaps if I hadn't them I would have been more inclined to get back to work, because I would be lost without adult company.

As for tax I'm fortunate enough to get my wages topped up while on paid maternity leave, so now for the last few weeks I've actually gotten a few quid back each week. I think it depends on where you work on how the tax is done, some need to get a balancing statement at the end of the year (after you get your p60) and you may be able to claim tax back then, also if married it may be worth your while to ring the revenue and have your credits allocated to your dh so he may pay less tax(again this depends on everyone own circumstances)

Best of luck with your decision

t_kel010

I should be going back to work next week but taking 4 weeks unpaid leave, would have loved to have taken the full 16weeks but just couldnt do it financially. As someone said you will never get that time back again. If you can afford it, def go for it. Im going to make the most of my 4 extra weeks.:)

Stems

I was having the same thoughts as you and in the end i decided to take 2 months unpaid and use half my holidays and said that just before the 2 months ended i would decide if i wanted to take the other 2 months. As it happens i am now ready to go back but if i thought i needed the extra 2 months i would have taken them and just let the bills pile up if needs be. You can always get on top of the money side when you get back to work. Good luck