Thread: Changes to HIP & Maternity Grant

If you are not aware of the changes to pregnancy grants, I thought I would run a quick update;

These grants will not apply to everyone

HIP

Health in Pregnancy Grant, which is for £190, a one of payment from a woman's 25 week of pregnancy, is being disbanded, come Jan 2011.

You can get the grant if all of the following apply:

* you are at least 25 weeks pregnant
* you have been given health advice from a midwife or doctor to help you and your unborn baby stay healthy during pregnancy
* you are present, 'ordinarily resident' and have a 'right to reside' in the UK - 'ordinarily resident' will depend on your circumstances but it usually means your main home is here

If you're a new arrival to the UK, the residency rules are the same as for a Child Benefit claim.

Surestart Maternity Grant

This is usually award to an expecting parent from the 29th week of pregnancy, til a child is 3 months of age. The amount given is that of £500 but come April 2011, this will only be available to first time parents.

Of course, both the HIP and Maternity Grant work on means, which means that you have to meet certain requirements to obtain any of the 2.

You can get a Sure Start Maternity Grant if you or your partner receive any of the following:

* Income Support
* income-based Jobseeker's Allowance
* income-related Employment and Support Allowance
* Pension Credit
* Child Tax Credit at a rate higher than the family element
* Working Tax Credit where a disability or severe disability element is included in the award

and if one of the following applies to you:

* you or your partner are pregnant and expecting a baby within 11 weeks or have given birth within the last three months
* you or your partner have adopted a child, or in certain circumstances have been granted a residence order for a child, within the last three months and the child is less than one year old
* you and your husband or wife have been granted a parental order for a surrogate birth within the last three months
* you or your partner are getting benefit for a dependant under the age of 20 who is pregnant and expecting a baby within 11 weeks or has given birth within the last three months

The term partner is used here to mean:

* a person you are married to or a person you live with as if you are married to them, or
* a civil partner or a person you live with as if you are civil partners

For more information, please visit Directgov

If these grants were not available, does that mean people would stop having kids they can not afford? Did not think so :lol: :lol:

I got a Bounty Box when I was up the duff, that was it. No wonder this country is nearly bankrupt.

Sorry, PMT kicked in peeps! :lol:

me
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I got the sure start grant with my 1st at the full £500 and to be honest i think at least half of it went on the car and the other half went no the house. This time i didn't even apply (wouldnt have got it anyhow) and i bought all the stuff i needed for the baby in gthe nine months i had to prepare. Spread the cost over 9 months and actually it was bloody easy financially.
A friend and I are trying to spread the word that having a baby is only as expensive as you want it to be. My youngest didn't get everything brand new and i've used a variety of websites to source absolute bargains for him meaning that actually he has cost much less than we anticipated and we know we can do the same again on the income we have which is why we opted for baby number 3.
As for the health in pregnancy grant....give me a break no-one needs that and no-one spends it on fruit and veg or whatever the heck its meant for!

With my son, I was in Cyprus, money was terrible, you think low wage here is bad, try living out there :cry:

Had no NHS, no help and I struggled but got there. Like above, I brougth a couple of things a month and got hand me downs.

I think the HIP is useful, I wouldn't knock it. For low incomed families, any extra money is a godsend. It's a shame it's going but I can see why.

I don't know anyone who has used the HIP on anything other than clothes, a naughty weekend away or a new hairstyle :cry: whole thing is a joke :cry:

me
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Originally Posted by Tootsie_Le_Coq

I don't know anyone who has used the HIP on anything other than clothes, a naughty weekend away or a new hairstyle :cry: whole thing is a joke :cry:

me
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That's bad, I mean baby clothes and baby gear, I can understand but to pay for a weekend away etc, just not right.

Originally Posted by Josephine

With my son, I was in Cyprus, money was terrible, you think low wage here is bad, try living out there :cry:

Had no NHS, no help and I struggled but got there. Like above, I brougth a couple of things a month and got hand me downs.

I think the HIP is useful, I wouldn't knock it. For low incomed families, any extra money is a godsend. It's a shame it's going but I can see why.

My bold....does this not beg the question as to why they would be having another child (or a child in the 1st place) if their finances could not stretch to it?

Not all pregnancies are planned, even with contreception, things can happen. Not all people can go through with abortion either.

I understand that low incomed families should carefully think things through but people have been bringing up kids for years, on peanuts, with or without the governments help. Who are we to judge those, we are not.

Just means everything has and will go back to basics.

Originally Posted by Josephine

Not all pregnancies are planned, even with contreception, things can happen. Not all people can go through with abortion either.

Which is why we should all be thankful that there are still people willing to be parents to adopted children.

Any monies received because you are having/had a child should never be funded by the tax payer!

Originally Posted by bootifull

Originally Posted by Josephine

Not all pregnancies are planned, even with contreception, things can happen. Not all people can go through with abortion either.

Which is why we should all be thankful that there are still people willing to be parents to adopted children.

Any monies received because you are having/had a child should never be funded by the tax payer!

You do realise that, even people who adopt, will receive benefits, in the form of tax credits etc. So, it defeats the objective

but receiving monies because a child has been born is so unfair against childless tax payers!

I agree Boots...while it's lovely if you want to...I think some people don't realise that you don't HAVE to have children, or at least it's good sense to wait until you don't need such *handouts* (sorry!) and you are financially stable enough to afford a child...

So those, who were married at the time and financially stable, should also be outcasted because those who have no kids, are left out?

Not everything is honkey dorey in life and I am grateful that the UK is a country that helps it's people.

When I had my first baby I wished that I didn't have them because my ex husband blew the money on cr*p (and please don't ask why I didn't stop him, it would have landed me in hot water). When I had my second baby 9 years later I claimed the HIP because I was told to, the money was spent on my daughter though because it was paid into my UK account and we were based in BFG I bought her baby milk and nappies up to that value to be delivered. We do currently claim tax credits, but that is because it has continued from when I was a single parent (as in we just changed the claim expecting to be told we were not eligible). Again though this money is not a huge amount and goes into my childrens savings account. This money will stop next year, so I will reduce what I put in by that amount.

You are right though, maybe I just should not have bothered claiming. Parents are given an easier ride in that sense, and they should be able to afford their children before having them.

Josephine i get the impression that you feel you are being personally attacked.
After the breakdown of my marriage I claimed income support for a year whilst I got myself back together and made sure my son had the stability he needed. Then i went back to work. The point I want to make here is that yes things went tits up but at this point i am now single mum to a 3 yr old and working my butt off to make ends meet. At no point would i have thought "you know what i reckon now would be a good time for another baby" and if i had accidently fallen pregnant it would have to have been abortion or adoption because I couldn't have provided the sort of life a child deserves and I don't think it would have been right to drop out of work and live on benefits just because I was stupid enough to get myself up the duff. I am not talking about existing children who are the victims of circumstance i am talking about whole new lives that don't yet exist.
There are many many different reasons why people claim benefits and Im certain that a lot of claimants are totally genuine and no-one would bat an eyelid at them recieving help. Unfortunately as usual the minority spoil it for the majority.
However I can never ever ever agree that in any circulmstances you should be given government hand outs of £500 in a sure start grant or however much the HIP grant was just because you are pregnant. Does that mean there will be an alternate benefit for those who decide not to have children? No so why should you be given them just because you do???

Originally Posted by Josephine

So those, who were married at the time and financially stable, should also be outcasted because those who have no kids, are left out?

Not everything is honkey dorey in life and I am grateful that the UK is a country that helps it's people.

My bold - I am all for that, believe me, I think that nutrition and health are really important for expecting mums, new babies and children. Its just I think "help its people" often turns into a "ooh extra money to fund my lifestyle".

Surely there are more sensible ways of doing it, though. Why can't formula be free for the first six months, ie milk tokens? Ditto milk or for primary children at school (just our pre-school, reception and year one gets a carton of milk every morning). I would not mind if the same amount of money was spent sensibly and achieved something rather than getting pissed up the wall.

me
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Or spent on TV's

No personal attacks at all.


I lost my job due to the resession, then I worked my butt off to find another job, which I did and worked hard at. Unfortunately, months later, my son was diagnosed with ASD and I was left with a choice to make. My decision was for my son and soley for that reason.

If I was with a partner, whole different story but as a lone parent, you do what's right for your child. Once my schooling is over with, I'll be back on the work force, my son will be in full time education at a specialist school and life will be easier.

I've faced many people, who have no clue what my daily life is like, spitting insults at me for living off the state. I say let them crack on, they are ignorant to my situation, not particulary their fault.

The surestart grant will only be available for 1st time parents, which I think is better, stops people popping out kids and getting £500 each time for it. The HIP, I think could be reconsidered, as said above, changed for something else (free nappies or formula for x amount of time).

Originally Posted by Josephine

No personal attacks at all.


I lost my job due to the resession, then I worked my butt off to find another job, which I did and worked hard at. Unfortunately, months later, my son was diagnosed with ASD and I was left with a choice to make. My decision was for my son and soley for that reason.

If I was with a partner, whole different story but as a lone parent, you do what's right for your child. Once my schooling is over with, I'll be back on the work force, my son will be in full time education at a specialist school and life will be easier.

I've faced many people, who have no clue what my daily life is like, spitting insults at me for living off the state. I say let them crack on, they are ignorant to my situation, not particulary their fault.

The surestart grant will only be available for 1st time parents, which I think is better, stops people popping out kids and getting £500 each time for it. The HIP, I think could be reconsidered, as said above, changed for something else (free nappies or formula for x amount of time).

I understand your circumstances, and the choice you made, but the system is wrong for not allowing legal/CSA to be able to tackle your ex who is overseas (IIRC). Its not fair to working parents or income tax payers with no children who have to pay for absent parents who, quite frankly, reproduce and then fail to provide for their offspring.

Why should someone get accommodation or housing allowance paid for by my income tax just because they have a child, an absent partner and are unable to work? They should not have the option of having their own place and instead members of their immediate family should be able to claim a tax allowance for accommodating them. Sound harsh? Well I am sorry but other countries and cultures have several generations living in the same property and it solves all sorts of problems such as childcare etc.,

Personally, I think that the patience of taxpayers has been completely pushed to the limit by it all.

me
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Not all pregnancies are planned, even with contreception, things can happen. Not all people can go through with abortion either.
I understand that low incomed families should carefully think things through but people have been bringing up kids for years, on peanuts, with or without the governments help. Who are we to judge those, we are not.This is usually award to an expecting parent from the 29th week of pregnancy, til a child is 3 months of age. The amount given is that of £500 but come April 2011, this will only be available to first time parents. and should wear proper maternity clothes