The worst paying job in the UK: the role of mum on maternity leave
Don't mind me, I'll be over here working overtime for less than minimum wage and working through my lunches. I think I'm in need of a Union.
I sit here writing this post with Upwork also open in my internet tabs, a cash reward survey half-complete on my phone and having just recieved an email from my employer confirming I can work a KIT (keeping in touch) day this month in exchange for my usual salary. My 4 month old lays sleeping upstairs after two or three false starts, compounded by crappy naps throughout the day. We’re pushing hard with crib naps to complement her wonderful night sleep - and whilst her run of sleeping through since 5 weeks old is a complete fluke, the daytime kip is taking a lot of time and effort to nail. Asides from sleep, I’m helping my daughter get used to tummy time and familiar with the sensation of rolling, after missing out on valuable time developing these skills whilst in a Pavlik harness to fix her hip dysplasia. Bottles and pumps need washing as often as water needs bailing out of a sinking boat, as do the endless piles of little human clothes and bibs.
So why is it, with the hours that go in to developing and nurturing my baby and the huge adjustment into motherhood that I’m undertaking, do I feel as though I’m working the hardest I’ve ever had to but the pay is quite frankly, shit? And after 9 months, it’s unpaid volunteering…
These jobs (YES being a mum on maternity leave is a job) don’t pay well, that’s for sure. And there isn’t always time for a lunch break. The weekly value of UK government statutory maternity pay amounts to just 26.1% of worker’s average weekly earnings (now estimated at £705 in 2025). And with there being 2.74 million female workers in the private sector alone that don’t receive enhanced maternity pay from their employers, the facts and figures scream “YOU’RE NOT WORTHY!”
The pressure of finances has definitely added worry to taking maternity leave, and left me feeling guilty. Guilty about the other things that are probably having to go on hold for us - doing up the house, going on ‘proper’ holidays (not just 1 night away at whatever we can find on lastminute.com), changing vehicles so we can actually fit our pram, dog & baby all in at the same time. The household bills need paying and it’s going to be hard on my partner to cover as much as he can whilst my pocket money from the government - after offering what I can - mostly goes on my phone bill, petrol, and keeping Winnie clothed and entertained. And a vanilla latte for me here and there if I’m lucky. I’m told you just “make it work”, but I’d rather not have sleepless nights thinking about how to just make it work.
I could’ve been strategic about the employer I chose to work for and found a job with a more attractive maternity package so I didn’t have to rely on the governments offering (stupid 25 year old Libby not thinking 5 years ahead!). I could go back to work sooner (and spend my salary on childcare until I qualify for government support). But this first year with my baby - anyone’s first year with their baby - is so precious and time you’ll never get back. Everyone’s circumstances and lifestyles are different and there of course are many that do balance things differently, opting to go back to work sooner for many reasons other than it not being an option financially not to. And fair play if that is where you land on all of this.
But I feel the fact remains that the UK’s current statutory maternity pay does not give the working woman the opportunity to walk away from their employment completely guilt and worry-free, for a secondment to what is arguably one of the most important jobs in the world.
And so, I find myself going backwards and forth more than an incompetent, overpaid manager makes trips to and from the smoking shelter in the thinking that I should be at a point where I have the capacity to take on a side-hustle or utilise my KIT time (should being key here - because everyone’s journey is different and others might not feel they should but rather want to. I am aware this could be a ‘me’ thing), to lessen the blow and scrape some more cash together. Feeling as though ‘I should’ sounds ridiculous as I type, given I birthed a child 16 weeks ago and I have as much leftover capacity as a sponge that is already sopping wet.
Suffice to say, I will be getting back to the office this month to top up my statutory earnings and I’ll still be earning pennies from consumer surveys on my phone whilst I breastfeed my little one. I’m still getting my head around how to start my Upwork profile.
Anyone know how I put myself forward for Employee of the Month?
What’s your take on maternity pay? I’m totally open to hearing other perspectives.
Do you have an employer that offers a great enhanced package? I’m totally open to hearing where I should be applying to work in time for the next baby.