UK child benefit. Child benefits around the world

In the UK, expectant mothers have a certain set of rights and privileges that are guaranteed to them by the state.

1. A British citizen has the right to maternity leave, prenatal payments and other government support. The government provides an opportunity for a pregnant woman to receive assistance from the state in real time. To do this, you can independently calculate the period of your pregnancy. The site also has a special calculator with which you can calculate the amount of state assistance.

2. While on maternity leave, a woman also has certain rights. This list includes an increase wages and the right to return to work after vacation.

3. The period of maternity leave is 52 weeks. This period is divided into two stages - the first 26 weeks (ordinary maternity leave) and additional leave - another 26 weeks. You don't have to take 52 weeks off right away, but after the baby is born, you have the right to take two weeks (or four weeks if you work in a factory). In addition, a woman has the right to take part of the maternity leave and include it in the general parental leave. You can schedule your maternity leave on this

4. A woman can go on maternity leave 11 weeks before the expected week of delivery. Vacation automatically starts the day after the birth of the child if the birth took place earlier than planned.

5. Compulsory Maternity Benefits (SMP) are paid for 39 weeks. You get:

– 90% of average weekly earnings before taxes for the first six weeks;

- the state provides a payment of £140.98 or 90% of weekly earnings over the next 33 weeks;

– SMPs are paid on the same principle as a salary, weekly or monthly, taking into account tax and insurance deductions from the moment you go on maternity leave.

6. Problems that a pregnant woman may face. Ask your employer for details on the benefits they pay for pregnancy if you think these numbers are unfair. If you are not satisfied with the answer, you can contact tax service for the appropriate analysis.

7. How can I take maternity leave. If you have a stable job, you can inform your employer about the upcoming maternity leave. It does not matter how many hours a day you work in his company and how much money you are paid. However, you are not entitled to maternity leave if you are a surrogate mother.

8. To qualify for maternity benefits, you need to earn at least £113 per week. In addition, you must provide a document that you are really pregnant, have been working continuously for at least 26 weeks, and notify the employer 15 weeks before the expected birth.

9. You are also entitled to leave if you have lost a child. If the child was born dead or died after childbirth, the woman still receives assistance from the state and the right to leave.

10. Notify the employer that you are going on maternity leave at least 28 days before going on vacation. In this case, he will require a written statement from you, and you must write it. In addition, the employer has the right to require a document confirming the pregnancy - in this case, you can provide a certificate from a doctor. If all requirements are met, the employer has no right not to pay you maternity leave. In the absence of any document, the vacation may not be paid.

11. Your employer must confirm within 28 days how much SMP you will receive and for how long. If he decides that you are not eligible, he must give you the SMP1 form within 7 days of the decision and explain why he is not going to pay for the vacation.

12. The state grants a woman the right to additional financial assistance after the birth of a child. This assistance includes child support, as well as a starting maternity allowance of £500 if this is your first child. The employer does not have the right to pay maternity leave less than the amount provided by law. In addition, a woman can claim 18 weeks of unpaid leave after giving birth.

13. Notify the employer at least 8 weeks in advance of the date of your return to work.

British law: maternity leave updated: May 11, 2019 by: Dmitry Melnikov

This review will be useful to those who are holders of British and European passports, as well as a UK residence permit. If your visa says "no recourse to public funds", your access to the public welfare system is restricted. In the first part of the review, we will touch on the issues family and health .

You are entitled to free prescription drugs if you live in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland. In England, pregnant women, children under 16, adults over 60, or recipients of the following benefits and their families are entitled to free medicines: Income Support, Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, in some cases tax credits and Universal Credit, as well as people who have serious chronic diseases from a special list.

Pregnant women and women with children under one year of age are entitled to free dental treatment within the NHS (for this you need to get from your doctor or midwife Maternity Exemption form (FW8)). In Scotland, all residents are entitled to free dental check-ups.

During pregnancy, women have the right to paid time to see a doctor about pregnancy (including travel time there and back), including visits to parent-teacher groups and courses if you have been referred by a doctor. (This does not apply to future fathers).

If you are a new parent, you should two-week vacation after the birth of a child (condition - you must work with the employer for at least 26 weeks).

After the birth of a child, parents, depending on family circumstances, have the right to the following types benefits:

Child benefit(if neither parent earns more than £50,000 a year)

Child Tax Credit(calculated on the family income. So a family with one child is eligible for this allowance if the total family income is below £26,000, with two - £32,000. The income limit can be increased if the family is raising a disabled child or spends a lot on caring for children.

Women with low income during pregnancy, as well as pregnant women under 18 years of age and children under 4 years of age from families receiving certain types of benefits are eligible for Healthy Start vouchers(for milk, vegetables, fruits and free multivitamins).

Pregnant women or women who have just given birth and receive certain types of benefits are eligible for Start Maternity Grant- £500 (only for the first child).

Income Support is a benefit for single or low-income parents who are unemployed or working less than 16 hours a week, as well as for families with children under 5 years old.

Care to Learn– for single parents under 20 who study full time

Childcare Grant And - Parents' Learning Allowance payment of childcare costs for parents who study full time (only in England).

http://www.studentparents.org/

Widowed Parent's Allowance- paid to the parent of a minor child if the other parent has died.

Carer's Allowance- allowance for parents caring for a disabled child (if the child requires care in the amount of at least 35 hours per week).

Disability Living Allowance (DLA)- paid to disabled children from 3 months old to 64 years old. Disabled people from 16 to 64 years old who need daily assistance, from April 2013 are paid Personal Independence Payment(This allowance should gradually replace the Disability Living Allowance).

Childcare element of Working Tax Credit designed to help parents pay the cost of childcare (up to a maximum of £175 per week or £300 if there is more than one child in the family, or up to 70% of your actual costs i.e. £122.5 and £210 respectively). Only payment is reimbursed registered or approved childcare". As part of this benefit, you may be eligible for child care reimbursement, including if your children attend school during the school holidays. holiday clubs.

https://www.gov.uk/childcare-tax-credits/eligibility

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/419571/WTC52015.pdf

FROM employers can help(again only with registered or approved childcare provider).

First way: childcare vouchers from the employer (the amount of money not subject to income tax or National Insurance contributions) - £243 if income tax is 20% and £124 if income tax 40%.

Second way: Employer pays directly to child care providers (same cap).

Third way: Kindergartens owned by employers.

The childcare element of Working Tax Credit cannot be combined with the employer's childcare payment.

If you are not working and raising children while receiving a Child Benefit, these years will be counted towards the total "service" when receiving a state pension (the years until the youngest child turns 12 are counted). If you work and receive Child Benefit, you "store" National Insurance credits, you may need them if you have a break in service. You can also give them to your spouse and partner if they are not working. From April 2011, overpaid premiums can be transferred to other members of your family (your parents, siblings, etc.) if they are looking after your child under 12 years of age.

To find out how much National Insurance contributions you have already paid, just call Future Pension Center 0845 3000 168 (here you can also find out the forecast of the future pension), or on the website Government Gateway.

Children aged 16-19 from families receiving Income Support, Universal Credit or Employment and Support Allowance and full time students may receive a scholarship from their educational institution (bursary). It is £1,200 per year.

Children from families receiving the following types of benefits are eligible for free school lunches:

• Income Support
• Income-based Jobseekers Allowance
• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
• Child Tax Credit (up to £16,190 per annum)
• Universal Credit

University students - UK citizens are entitled to Tuition fee loan- University loan (maximum £9,250 per annum) and maintenance loan(only in England) - depending on the circumstances from £4,375 to £11,675 per year. Students from low-income families may be eligible for maintenance grant(this is a benefit that does not need to be paid back).

The tuition fee loan and maintenance loan must be paid to the state when the graduate's salary reaches £25,000 per annum (the payment is 9% per annum). If for 30 years from the first payment you did not have time to pay off the entire loan, then the rest of it is written off.

Payout Calculator:

http://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/student-loan-repayment-calculator

https://www.gov.uk/student-finance/extra-help

Bearing and raising a child is a responsible task, and not only in our country. What about English mothers? How do they cope with everyday worries? How do they prepare for childbirth, where do they give birth, what childcare benefits can they count on, where are they looking for nannies and when do residents of the English capital go to work? The story of a shocked French woman, author of the book "Chicks in London".

Mummy! Hardy and full of strength

London Mummy - toughcookie, hard nut to crack. She realized that motherhood was a serious matter, especially on the day she had to leave her student room, a nest of lovers in central London, to move, like all families, to greener and more child-friendly, but remote areas. Goodbye city bus, hello commuter train.

Goodbye London, hello suburbs

To replace the delight of the news "Honey, I'm pregnant!" immediately comes anxiety about the upcoming move. Our future Mummy has nine months to say goodbye to the apartment of her youth in central London, which cost her a fabulous price, but which she still loved, even if she did not have the right to hang her paintings on the walls because of the almighty and petty meticulous hosts...

Alas! If she is not the happy owner of a Victorian home of more than three rooms, she will have to move, but her average salary£2,500 a month (she naively thought that was not so little) she was guaranteed relocation to green, comfortable, family, but, unfortunately, remote neighborhoods: Putney, Crouch End, Ealing, Fulham, Wimbledon, Clapham, Croydon, Luish, even Richmond if she wins the lottery. Of course, she can console herself with the fact that she still lives in London, at least in theory, but she is well aware that everything will be different from now on. These peripheral neighborhoods are green ghettos for families who are relatively wealthy, but not rich enough to stay in the center of the capital.

Adviсe
How to calculate Londoners with children? By their index. If you meet a handsome guy you like and he says he lives in SW4 (Clapham), SW6 (Fulham), N8 (Crouch End), SW19 (Wimbledon), SW15 (Putney), SE13 (Louisham), know that a friend is probably a family ...

Our Mummy can finally start a small garden around small house, because of which she will have to get into debt for 50 years. In fact, she is well aware that she is deceiving herself: becoming a mother in London most often means becoming a resident of the suburbs. In France she was beside herself with rage; in London she tells herself that everything will be all right, dear! It's for the best! (Everything will be fine, dear! There is a blessing in disguise!). Staying optimistic in adversity is what it is all about.

stoic english mom

One could say that the London Mummy is a stoic woman. She is not groomed, cherished and watched like her French sister.

Pregnant women often become curiosities for their employers.

“I worked as an editor at a studio in Soho,” says Ella, the mother of two little girls two and four years old. - When I became pregnant at the age of 28, everyone was amazed. In this environment, people are very ambitious, you need to constantly prove that you are infinitely devoted to work and ready to give yourself entirely to it. And I was a junior editor at the very beginning of my career, so many perceived the news as professional suicide, given that this profession is dominated by men, and it is much more difficult for women to advance. My management initially reacted well to this news, but they had to rack their brains over the execution of my decree, since I turned out to be the first pregnant woman in the office for more than a dozen years!

In England, working women are entitled to 80 per cent of their salary for one to two months, after which 50 per cent is paid for another month. And that's it. They may also take an extra month of unpaid leave.

“My contract specified that I was entitled to maternity leave, BUT I would have to repay everything if I decided to quit at the end of the vacation or if I became pregnant within the next year. I returned to work after four months, but the adaptation cost me a lot of work, because I was no longer one hundred percent free, and the babysitter was very expensive for me. I felt that I was no longer part of the team, that they kept me out of the way, relying on other editors. After eight months, I quit my job and started working as a freelance editor.

While pregnant, London's Mummy learns to act like nothing is happening. And wait for it to pass.

“Here we are entitled to only two ultrasounds (ultrasounds) in the third and sixth months [compared to three paid by French social security]. The therapist sends the patient to the hospital, where she is observed. At each visit, only blood is taken, but not. If everything proceeds normally, without complications, this is enough. In case of complications, a completely different story begins ...

Not very comforting. But in fact, our London Mummy tries not to think about it and, meeting with toxicosis every morning, repeats her favorite national leitmotif: "Everything will be fine!"

- You should learn to rely only on yourself and not wait for someone to take care of you and present you on a silver platter. If you have the mind of a kept woman, you are lost,” Ella comments, gritting her teeth.

Gorgeous childbirth
Rich Mummy prefers to see and give birth in a private clinic, following the example of her favorite celebrities: The Portland Hospital, The Hospital of St.John & St.Elizabeth (Kate Moss gave birth here) are two exclusive addresses where you can see and give birth while rolling like cheese in oil. The cost of observation and childbirth at The Portland Hospital ranges between 9,000 and 20,000 euros. If you want to save money and only give birth at The Hospital of St. John & St. Elizabeth, it will cost you 2000 euros for the first 24 hours of labor (including the birth of the baby), then count on 1200 euros for each day of your stay in the hospital. Observation of pregnancy by a midwife (but not by a gynecologist) costs 2,000 euros, but this amount does not include ultrasound and urine and blood tests.

For comparison: in France, a patient who feels cared for herself visits a gynecologist or midwife every month. It is carefully examined and examined. Very, very carefully. Vaginal palpation is a term unfamiliar in the UK, except, of course, in cases of immediate danger. In France, each stage on the way to childbirth is explained in detail, each visit is recorded. Your condition is being monitored. England does not have this protective cocoon: in war as in war.

When X-Day hits, London's Mummy is no joke. In England, they give birth on a conveyor belt, this is a stop and go policy.

- I gave birth on Tuesday morning and at noon the next day I was already forced to leave the hospital. Came home completely broken. But we don't have a choice, that's the way things are. Therefore, we have to reconcile.

When I tell her that in France, a new mother can stay in the hospital for up to five days, recover and learn the basics of breastfeeding with midwives and visiting nurses, Ella exclaims with involuntary bitterness:

- Damn it!

During the first year, a new mother has the right to one or two formal visits to the pediatrician, and that's it.

- In most cases, when a child is sick, doctors tell me: "Give him paracetamol, and everything will pass," says Ella.

There is something to stun the French doctors with their lengthy prescriptions.

The British almost never prescribe antibiotics, they prefer nature to help the child fight the infection on his own. This seems reasonable to me. On the other hand, no suppositories. They simply don't exist here. This is considered absolutely shocking!

Suppositories are a real clash of cultures. Try to explain to the British, even the most progressive, that you can treat a sore throat with a "candle in the ass."

In urgent cases, you cannot call the doctor.

- We can only call our Health Visitor (midwife/patronage nurse), appointed by the Board to provide medical care for our child until school age. In the worst cases, you can always go to a paid pediatrician at the Cromwell Hospital for 150 euros per visit.

Someone will say that such tests harden the character of the nation. There is no question of the pleasure of life here ...

Hypnobirthing - hypnobirthing

Thirty-three-year-old Eleanor, who is seven months pregnant, is convinced that childbirth will be a nightmare for her. She dreams every night that she is dying. All her talk is about this. Her companion Ben has to take action, otherwise health care he himself will need. He looks everywhere for a miracle solution, reads booklets and magazines, consults doctors and midwives, rummages on the Internet in search of a method that will save his beloved.

One of his friends tells him about hypnobirths. It is done. Ben signs up for a two-week course eight months pregnant. Eleanor has no choice. In any case, she does not care: she has already made a will and sent letters to all family members. She knows full well that she only has a few weeks left to live.

What's happened hypnosis? This is a childbirth performed under hypnosis. Rationalists like us would immediately suspect a large-scale deception of desperate young couples.

- You know, it worked perfectly! - Eleanor and Ben say a few days after their "collective birth".

Hypnobirthing has become a new mania for thirty-year-old Londoners. Famous people of the country, such as Beverly Turner, became supporters of this method. This young beautiful brunette, the wife of an Olympic rowing champion, comments on the Tour de France and passionately defends hypnobirths.

However, the name is somewhat misleading, because for two weeks our future young parents are not at all hypnotized and not put into a trance state, but simply master the basics of relaxation and joint preparation for childbirth. The main idea is to stay at home for as long as possible during the first contractions, and the expectant father should take matters into his own hands in order to relieve the expectant mother of any worries. And now he turns into the head of the station with a stopwatch in his hand to measure the duration and frequency of contractions, and into a storyteller of jokes that will help him keep his mother in a state of mild euphoria.

In essence, hypnobirthing is about convincing the mother to completely trust her partner, and the father to take the lead in the process. This should be called "father support during childbirth."

Eleanor's first contractions started at seven o'clock in the morning. I managed to entertain her until eighteen o'clock. I took her out to dinner, then we went to the cinema to see an old Marx Brothers movie with my stopwatch on my right thumb. At six o'clock in the evening we went to the hospital, where I immediately put on her headphones with pleasant music so that she would not hear the piercing cries of other women. In the delivery room, I continued to make her laugh, massaging her lower back, as I was taught in the courses. Eleanor didn't even need anesthesia. I made her laugh so much that she herself produced endorphins! When it came time to push, it took half an hour, and Gaia was born. As a result, Eleanor managed to remain calm and relaxed. She was able to concentrate on the main thing, without wasting her energy on trifles, and at the key moment give birth like a king, says Ben, incredibly proud of himself.

So the father becomes a sports coach, and the mother becomes an Olympic champion.

Life after childbirth

We have seen to what extent our Mummy endures hardships stoically. Now she should become a philosopher. In her place, the Frenchwoman would have thrown herself out the window a long time ago. The first four years of a child's life are the most difficult for his mother.

- If you want to return to work, there are four options for babysitting: a nursery, where there are almost no free places and they cost 60 euros per day; a nanny recommended by the municipality, costing from 45 to 75 euros per day, depending on the quarter; private nanny working for 12 euros per hour; and finally, a foreign girl who needs to be accommodated, fed and paid 120 euros a week. Last - the best way, the cheapest, but for this you need to have a free room, explains Noemi, the mother of two-year-old Zach, who left her career to take care of her son. Dad earns money in the family.

While passing through France, Noémie was delighted with the pre-school system in a Pyrenean town:

— I left Zach in kindergarten, and it cost me half as much as in London, plus the system is more flexible: you pay only for the days of visiting, whereas in London I have to pay for the nursery, even when Zach is sick or when we go on vacation.

Primary School
Getting into elementary school can be a nightmare because parents don't always get the school they choose in their neighborhood. Since good public schools are overcrowded, they often have to apply to private Catholic or Anglican schools, or to so-called public schools (very private schools) if they have the means. Or come up with a religious faith that they do not have. Some couples are accepted to act like practicing Christians so that their children will go to a good neighborhood school attached to the church. And goodbye Sunday brunches! They have to go to church every Sunday. If they are exposed, the children will immediately be expelled from school.
“If you decide to settle in London with young children, before you start looking for housing, you should make inquiries about the quality of local primary schools and their affiliation with a particular religion,” advises Noemi.

In fact, many London moms who do not earn money in the City big money choose to quit their jobs and take care of their children until they enter school at the age of four. Starting from the age of three, the child can attend the nursery for half a day, but in this case you have no choice, and your baby will go to the nearest institution on the street corner, this is not discussed. But in this rough world, there are still good sides:

“English upbringing insists on the independence and individuality of children, they develop a sense of responsibility very early,” says Noemi. “It also develops respect for different cultures. Every major religious holiday - Ramadan, Yom Kippur, Chinese New Year- celebrated by the whole class. Sometimes it seems to me that this is even too much, something like United Colors of Benetton, but in the end it's better that way than vice versa.

However, our Mummy is by no means freer when her child reaches the long-awaited age of four.

They are only at school from nine in the morning until three in the afternoon. Sometimes some schools offer classes until half past five, but you should fork out 20 euros per day per child. It's hard, says Noemi.

In affluent neighborhoods, most children have personal tutors who help them with their homework until their parents return. It's called equal chances in English...

You may be eligible for child support if you are responsible for one or more children under the age of 16 (or under 20 if they are in education). There is no limit on the number of children who can receive benefits.

Only one person can receive benefits for the same child.

Any changes in life should be reported to, which deals with all issues related to child support. You will probably have to pay tax if your individual income (or that of your partner) exceeds £50,000.

You may be out of child support, but you still need to fill out the form to get it because:

• it will help you get loans social insurance what is important for your state pension;
• you will be sure that the child is registered and will receive a social security number when he turns 16 years old.

How much will you receive

There are two child support rates. For the oldest or only child, you will receive £20.70 per week. For each subsequent child per week you will be paid £13.70.

If you have been paid too much or too little, you should contact . You can get Guardian's Allowance if you're raising someone else's child because one or both parents have died. It is paid in addition to child support.

Breakup or formation of a new family

In the event of a family breakup, you will receive £20.70 per week for the oldest child staying with you.

Example

If you have two children and one of them stays with you, you will receive £20.70 per week. If your ex-partner is claiming second child support, they will receive £20.70 per week for the second child. If you both want to receive benefits for the same child,it will allowjust one of you.

If two families merge, the oldest child in the new family will be paid £20.70. If you receive support for another child, your payment will be £13.70.

How and when child support is paid

Child benefit is usually paid every four weeks on Monday or Tuesday. You can get paid every week if you are a single parent or receive certain other benefits, such as Income Support.

The money can go to any of your accounts, except for a Nationwide Building Society account held by someone else. Funds will only be credited to one account.

Income over £50,000

You will probably have to pay tax if your individual income (or that of your partner) exceeds £50,000.

If you have moved to the UK

You can receive child support if your main home is in the UK and you have permission to live in the UK.

If your child goes to work or receives separate benefits

You will stop receiving child support as soon as your child:

• starts working for pay 24 or more hours a week and stops studying;
• will begin the internship in England (as an administrative and political part of the UK);
• start receiving their own benefits, such as the Low Income Allowance, Employment and Support Allowance, or tax credits.

Tax accrual

You will still be eligible to receive child support even if you decide not to because you or your partner earn more than £50,000. Stopping child support will not affect your eligibility. You can always change your mind and start receiving benefits again.

How to apply for benefits

Complete and mail it to the Child Benefit Office, along with the child's original birth or adoption certificate, at:

Child Benefit Office (GB)
Washington
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE88 1ZD

When to Apply

It may take up to 12 weeks for your application to be processed (or longer if you have just arrived in the UK).

Apply for benefits as soon as your child is born or as soon as the child comes to live with you.

You can get child support backdating up to three months.

If you do not have a birth or adoption certificate, you must still complete and submit the form. You will send the certificate later when you receive it.

You do not need these documents if you have received child support before and want to receive child support again for the same child.

Additional Information

Change of circumstances

You must inform the Child Benefit Office of changes in your life.

These include:

• changes in family life, such as marriage;
• changes in the child's life, such as graduation.

Complaints

You can file a complaint with the Child Benefit Office if you don't like the decision made about your issue.

Child benefit in the UK: everything you need to know updated: May 10, 2019 by: Elena Abdulaeva

This week, the British Royal Court confirmed the news that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are expecting their second child. About what parenting traditions the royal family adopted earlier and how they change with new generations, But how do mere mortal parents of Foggy Albion live?

So, official maternity leave in the UK is 52 weeks, of which 26 are regular maternity leave and the next 26 weeks are additional leave.

You can not take maternity leave at all, but at least two weeks with a child after childbirth (four - if you work in a factory), young mothers are required to stay. You can go on maternity leave no earlier than 11 weeks before the date of birth. Or it starts “automatically” if a premature birth occurs, or the expectant mother is not at the workplace for health reasons in the last four weeks before the birth.

At least 15 weeks before the due date, the pregnant woman must notify the employer that she plans to go on maternity leave (most employers will ask you to do this in writing), and provide documents confirming pregnancy (certificate from a doctor).

After the application, the company has 28 days to approve the start and end dates of the vacation, as well as indicate whether the mother is entitled to receive payments during the decree (depending on the duration and work with this employer and salary per week).

The state ensures that the mother is preserved workplace - she has the right to return to her job 26 or 52 weeks after giving birth. If after 52 weeks it is not possible to provide a previous job, the company is obliged to offer another position while maintaining the levels of compensation and responsibility that the mother had before the decree.

Young mothers do not receive an automatic right to part-time employment or a flexible schedule until they officially request it from the employer. If such an opportunity is denied unreasonably, it is considered discrimination. There are many non-governmental organizations (Rights of Women, Maternity Action and others) that you can turn to for help and advice if parents have difficulties with the employer related to working conditions.

On the this moment father can take up to two weeks of regular maternity leave and up to 26 weeks of additional leave if the mother went to work.

From April 5, 2015 in Britain, both parents will have the right to share maternity leave between themselves - you can take several alternate “shifts”, you can even take 52 weeks in parallel (i.e. both parents can be at home for 26 weeks). What is this, if not the most striking confirmation of emancipation and justice?!

As in other countries, in the UK women make up an increasing proportion working population. Thus, the number of women among all workers in the country has increased by 80% since 1995 alone. About 80-85% of working women decide to have a baby. Of them about a third do not return to work or experience great difficulty returning to work life.

It has recently become easier to negotiate flexible working hours or part-time work in the United Kingdom, not least after the rather visible "returns" to work by local celebrities such as singer Lily Allen, head of the working women's committee Ruby McGregor-Smith or women academics who after the decree made breakthroughs in science.

But still in the country there is an unspoken understanding both mothers and employers, which it will be almost impossible to build a brilliant career immediately after the decree and will have to sacrifice either time with children or career expectations.

Grandparents (as well as sisters and brothers of parents) can also get some "benefit" from raising grandchildren / nephews. If it is they who look after a child under 12 for at least 20 hours a week, parents can transfer to them the so-called “national insurance loans”, on the basis of which the pension is calculated, that is, a grandmother or sister will be able to receive a larger pension than if they simply their work experience was taken into account. Of course, the parents themselves can use these loans to increase their future pension.

Because medicine in the UK is free and provided by the state, most women give birth in regular hospitals and without medical insurance. You can give birth in a private hospital, where the cost of childbirth will range from £10,000 to £30,000 including all accompaniments. But many, even those who gave birth in a private clinic, argue that there is no big difference in service and medical care between private and public hospitals.

By the way, in Britain there is often such an unusual system when a pregnant woman is given a choice where to give birth - in a birth center or in a hospital (often these are two different parts of the same hospital). There will be a midwife in the center with the woman in labor, no doctors, no planned cesarean, no anesthesia - the emphasis is on the natural process of childbirth and auxiliary tools - baths, gymnastic devices, aromatherapy, music. But in case of force majeure, a transfer to the hospital is mandatory, which can take time and be less comfortable, since there are always more people giving birth in them. Perhaps in this way in the UK they are solving the issue of the burden on doctors, or perhaps they are trying to make the process more “homely” and intimate for women.

Since medicine is free, the state, clinics and doctors try to minimize the time for one patient. The pregnant woman will have everything three planned ultrasound/examinations for the entire period and a minimum of tests. An exception is deviations from the normal course of pregnancy, but even in such cases, hospitalizations are very rarely "for preservation" here.

If the woman in labor is not a citizen, but a resident(has lived legally in the country for more than six months), then she has the same rights as citizens of the state in terms of childbirth and pregnancy. Tourists or illegal immigrants they will certainly provide an ambulance or take delivery, but they will not receive citizenship, passports, or additional compensation.

Generally UK policy towards young parents is supportive. Everything has been done to ensure that people give birth and raise children: here is the protection of the workplace, and income, and support from district children's centers, and equipped playgrounds, etc.

According to the British Pregnancy Advice Service (yes, there is one!), the average age of primiparous in 2013 increased to 30 years. And the most common option is two children in a family.

Among the mental features, I would single out the following.

1. In Britain, it is customary to come to visit the "bride" of a newborn only at the invitation of the parents.

2. Baptism is an important event for the majority, not in terms of joining the church, but as an opportunity to communicate with relatives and friends and introduce the child to everyone.

3. Since in the UK in general and in large cities in particular there are many people from other countries with their own habits and customs, tolerance is at a premium, so no one will be overly eager to help a pregnant woman, for example, carry something heavy. Plus, no one bothers. Minus - they do not give way to a place in transport.

Well, about how developed the infrastructure of the UK is and is adapted for raising children,