Baby bonus vs 18 wks min wage payment

[ladybird11]

I am wondering if anyone could shed some light on this topic .

I'm hoping to spend as much time possible at home with the LO's when number 3 comes along. My employer offers 14 weeks of paid maternity leave and I have the opportunity to take 28 weeks of half pay. Ideally I'd like the payments to overlap though, even if it means I have to go back to work earlier - just so I don't have to stress about $$. I'm not sure if we'd be entitled to any FTB A or B (we haven't previously, but then again thats not speaking to anyone at Centrelink, just me working from the info on their website).

DH and I would make less than $75K in the 6 mths after #3 is born, so we'd be entitled to the baby bonus.

On paper is appears we would be financially better off taking 14 wks of full pay maternity leave, then take the parental payment of 18 wks at minimum pay, and then possible some annual leave not including any annual leave which is 6 wks a year. So 38 weeks all up.

I guess amongst all of my above ramblings, why would people still opt for the baby bonus if we'd be better off financially on the minimum wage option???

[glenny_c]

leesa- I don't think you get a choice, I think because bubs is due after Jan 1 and you're leaving work you'd be eligble for the parental payment, baby bonus is more for those people who are already SHM ect. Not sure if I'm right but that's how I understand it.
I'm sure there are girls on here who are much better qualified to answer than I am.
congrats by the way!!

[Cherished]

I thought you get the baby bonus if your child is born before or on Dec 31st 2010 and babies born after Jan 1st 2011 will get the minimum wage thingo?

[briggsy's girl]

you do get a choice. you cannot be forced to take paid parental leave over the baby bonus. from the family assist site:

If you think you may be eligible for Parental Leave Pay, you can use the Online Estimator from 1 October 2010 to help you decide if you want to receive Parental Leave Pay or the Baby Bonus. The Online Estimator will ask you to answer questions about your circumstances and will provide you with a comparison between Parental Leave Pay and the Baby Bonus.

from my understanding - if you're already at the cusp of not receiving ftb, you're probably better off with the PPL than the baby bonus. over a period of 18 weeks, you get just over 10k, as opposed to 5000 or just over for baby bonus - which is paid fortnightly for 26 weeks. PPL is taxable though, so you have to take into account how much tax you're going to have to pay on it given you will have worked for a fair portion of the year and this will add to it.

something you will need to consider is whether the income is more pressing for you on a fn by fn basis before returning to work. there are provisions to quarantine and pay the max amount of ftbb from when your mat leave runs out until you return to work. given i'm assuming you're due in march-ish, if you took your fully paid mat leave from work, it would run out fairly early in the new financial year. if you delayed baby bonus until then, you would likely be eligible for baby bonus plus ftbb of around 130-140 a fn. if you receive PPL, no matter WHAT your income is for the financial year, you will lose eligibility for ftbb for the period you are receiving PPL

there is a lot to consider when working out which option to take, and i guess, as hard as it it to wait, it might be better to wait til October 1 when the online estimator is updated so that you can see what you're entitled to and work it out for your family. i do agree that it seems to be, in your circs (with no ftb entitlement anyway) better to get PPL and get it after you have been paid your mat leave. i would check with your employer if you're eligible to take your other paid leave while taking time off post-birth though - a lot of them will let you take it before you start your mat leave, but require you to go back to work before being eligible for other leave

[glenny_c]

Thanks Briggsy's girl! That has helped me a lot as well!!! I am due in Jan and was getting quite confused about everything. The online estimator looks good (just have to wait for Oct...)

[ladybird11]

Thank you BG - you're such a wealth of info

[briggsy's girl]

no probs
sometimes i think you need training like i've had just to interpret the mumbo jumbo in it all!