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As a pregnant employee you are entitled to 26 weeks of maternity leave, regardless of the time you’ve been with an employer. To qualify, you must tell your employer no later than the end of the 15^th week before the expected week of childbirth. Employees with 26 weeks continuous service for an employer by the beginning of the 14^th week before the expected week of childbirth are entitled to an additional 26-week period of maternity leave.

SMP is paid by an employer and is earnings related. You must be employed by a present employer in the 15^th week before the baby is due, and have been employed by that employer for 26 continuous weeks until the 15^th week before the baby is due. SMP is paid for up to 39 weeks.

If you do not qualify for SMP from an employer, then you may be entitled to Maternity Allowance. There are numerous conditions for entitlement but you should claim after you have been pregnant for 26 weeks.

New fathers also have rights to paid paternity leave of up to two weeks.

Child benefit is a tax-free monthly payment to anyone bringing up a child or young person. You may be able to claim child benefit if you are working in the UK and your child/children are based overseas. However, if you are subject to immigration control, you may not be eligible.

To be eligible a child must be:

-Under 16

-Is aged between 16 and 19 (up to 20 in some cases) and is in relevant education or training

-Is aged 16-17 years old and has left school recently and is registered as looking for employment or are in training.

From April 2010 you can receive £20.30 for the eldest or only child and £13.40 for every other qualifying child, per week.

This is for families with at least one child and has two elements. It has a family element that is paid to families with responsibility for at least one child. It is paid at a higher rate for children under the age of one. The second is the child element, which is paid for each child. It is paid at a higher rate if you have a disabled child and an enhanced rate if you have a severely disabled child. To qualify for the child tax credit you must be over 16 and live in the UK.

This is available to people who do paid work for at least 16 hours per week and expect to be working for at least four weeks. You must also be either over 16 and responsible for a child, over 16 and disabled, or over 25 and usually work at least 30 hours per week.