there are additional benefits to taking your leave at half pay in that, cash in hand wise, you tend to get more over the longer period as your tax liability is lower for those smaller pay amounts... i've taken rec leave at half pay and gotten well over half my normal pay in the bank...

personally, i think taking your leave at half pay would be, from a budgetary perspective, a lot wiser if you're planning on having at least six months off - FTB isn't a whole lot of money, your mat leave payments will be taken into account and impact your FTB anyway, so having a higher amount in your pocket for a longer period of time would be more beneficial

hope that helps