Thursday 26th April 2018
As part of the Citizens Advice Exeter and The Express and Echo weekly advice column we focus on maternity entitlements for self-employed women.
I’m a self-employed woman and I’m thinking about starting a family. Am I able to take paid maternity leave?
Maternity entitlements are different for self-employed women but financial support is still available.
Self-employed women who have a baby may be entitled to a total of 39 weeks Maternity Allowance. The amount you receive depends on your individual circumstances.
In order to get the full amount you need to have worked (either employed or self-employed) for at least 26 out of the 66 weeks prior to your baby’s arrival. You should also have paid National Insurance contributions for at least 13 of those weeks and are required to have earned a minimum average weekly amount over 13 of the last 66 weeks.
However, if you don’t meet all of these criteria it’s possible that you’ll still be able to receive some support.
You can put in a claim on or after the 14th week before the week your baby is due by filling in a MA1 claim form online or popping it in the post. The earliest you can receive the first payment is 11 weeks before your baby is due, or you can elect to start it as late as the day after the birth.
Employees often have ‘keeping in touch’ days and the same stands for self-employed workers. You can work for up to 10 days whilst receiving Maternity Allowance, but go over this threshold and you risk losing your allowance altogether.
If your household income isn’t enough to cover your costs you might also be entitled to further financial aid such as a Maternity Grant or income-related social security benefits.
For more information and advice go to www.citizensadvice.org.uk
Look out for our column next week when we focus on our research into social security tribunals.
The information contained in these articles does not constitute advice. Citizens Advice Exeter and The Express and Echo accept no liability for the information published. Citizens Advice Exeter is unable to respond to individual requests for advice through these columns. Copyright Citizens Advice. For the most up-to-date information, please visit www.citizensadvice.org.uk