‘Having two kids on Statutory Maternity Pay has left me £19,000 in debt’

Could you give me a little background about you?

I’ve been married for 6 years and am a mother to a 3 year old girl and 10 month old boy. I gave birth to my daughter during the height of covid, so the experience of pregnancy, birth and maternity leave for my two children have been vastly different.

I completed a marketing degree back in 2011. I have now worked in marketing for over 10 years, working my way up from a marketing assistant, to coordinator, to executive, to my current role as a marketing manager. I look after a small team but am also ultimately responsible for the department. Apart from being a mum and going to work, I haven’t had any hobbies since before the kids.

What is the story you would like to share?

Having 2 children on statutory maternity leave alone has made me go into £19,000 of debt that no one knows about.

Can you describe what your relationship with money is like?

I’ve always had a love hate relationship with my credit card, even before my kids. I’d spend too much money using it - thinking it was the “safest” way in case something happened - but I would always pay it off in full. However, that meant I didn’t really save and the vicious cycle would just continue. A year after getting married we decided to start trying for a baby. At this point I looked into the maternity policy at work and saw that it was statutory maternity pay. At the time I should have realised I needed to stop my credit card debt cycle and save, as my salary was going to be significantly slashed and we needed to be able to pay our mortgage, bills etc.

What happened during your first maternity leave?

Fast forward 9 months and my daughter arrived. After 6 weeks of 90% pay my salary plummeted to £151.20 a week. While my husband made sure the mortgage and bills were covered, I had to ensure we had food on the table and that all the other necessities were purchased. And because this was during covid, I couldn’t go out and shop around, so I just bought things online (like baby clothes and activities) to keep me and my baby entertained. The only way I could continue to afford this was adding purchases to my credit card. And this just kept going. When my statutory pay ended, I had 3 months of earning no money, so the credit card figure continued to increase.

What actions did you take to save/pay off the debt?

I decided to transfer my £11,000 debt onto a 0% balance transfer card, and immediately felt like I had fixed everything. I was slowly paying it off without anyone knowing (including my husband). But then we decided to have another baby. This time, I tried to save as much beforehand as I could, because I knew I was only entitled to the statutory maternity pay again. But after saving £3,000, I decided to pay some of my previous debt off. This was great in one respect, as it helped my credit score. But then it meant that I didn’t have any savings and so I was back to adding purchases onto credit cards. I also naively didn’t realise that by the time my son was 4 months old, the 0% period had ended so my interest went through the roof!

Where are you now?

So I’m now coming to the end of my second maternity leave with no money coming in, the debt is up to £19,000 and I’m paying the minimum on my credit cards. And I’m only managing to do this by selling clothes on Vinted or using cashback apps.

How do you feel?

No one knows that I have this debt and I feel ashamed by it. It feels like a dark cloud over me that I can’t get rid of. I know that I need to break the cycle of using my credit card, but I really need to get the debt gone and I don’t want to seek help and someone suggest an IVA or something similar. I’m scared of what people will think of me and for the emotional side of dealing with money - especially when you have kids and a mortgage to pay for.

Do you have any advice for those where you were?

If you feel like you’re spiralling, just stop and tackle the debt problem head on. Transfer your credit to a 0% balance card and make note of the end date. Try and break it down by month to get rid of it before the term ends. And talk to someone about it before it gets bigger by you trying to keep it a secret.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

Statutory maternity pay for 2023/24 has gone up to £172.48 a week which is an increase on my previous child. But is still not in line with the cost of living crisis. Consider this national minimum wage is £11.44 an hour. If someone works 37.5 hours a week they make £429. That’s almost 2.5 times what someone on statutory maternity leave gets just for having a baby and spending the first year with them.