Parenthood Campaign: Returning to Work

If you decide to return to work when the children are older, you should be automatically enrolled into your workplace pension scheme, subject to meeting the eligibility criteria and earning at least £10,000 per annum. If you do earn less than £10,000, you can still ask your employer to join the workplace pension scheme and you will get employer contributions if you earn more than £6,032 per annum.

Do not forget the pension benefits that you accrued prior to taking back to work. It is important that you take time to trace these pensions.

When your child is age 3, you may be eligible to get Government help with your childcare costs. If this gives you some extra money, it is a good opportunity to put some of this into savings. Pensions are a tax-efficient form of saving as you get tax relief on your contributions. You may also find that your employer matches extra contributions that you pay into a workplace pension scheme.