What do I Need to know about Maternity Benefits?

If you’re worried about your financial situation during your maternity period, then it’s a good idea to get to grips with all the money related jargon and understand maternity benefits information. It can sometimes be hard to keep up to date with all of the maternity benefits information that changes frequently, especially with the new 2014 budget. So here’s a quick run-down of some of the basics that you should know:

The budget hasn’t changed the child benefits payments – these will remain the same as previous years, so that’s one less thing to worry about.

A new feature of the budget in 2014 is another positive – there will be free GP healthcare for all children under the age of five years old. This has been positively welcomed by parents of young children.

The standard maternity benefit will be placed at €230 for those who are new claimants in the year 2014. Unfortunately, this does mean that there is a significant reduction from the current maternity benefit which ranges between €217 to around €262. It’s best to know this information as soon as you can as you’ll need to carefully plan your finances for the duration of your pregnancy and maternity period. There are lots of helpful articles on EUMom to help with budget planning and ways to save money, so if you’re worried about this fall in maternity payment then take a look through our archive of money-related articles on EUMom. 

Whilst one parent tax credit is repaid with single person child carer tax credit – this will only be made available to the primary carer. This is still the same value, the only difference is who the money is allocated to – only one parent (the primary carer) will claim the credit as opposed to the original tax credit that involves both parents (single) being able to claim the credit. What this means is that if you are a single parent with joint custody, the person who is considered to be the primary carer of the child in question will receive the benefit. 

As you can see, there are a few changes that will impact maternity benefits in 2014 and onwards. The best thing you can do as a mom or an expectant mom is to find out what you’re entitled to and get up to date on all the recent maternity benefits information. Speaking to other parents, and moms can help.