A third of mothers acquire debt on maternity leave

Average debt accrued by new mothers is £2,500 as one in 10 cut short leave for financial reasons.

Nearly a third of new mothers go into debt due to taking maternity leave, while one in 10 cut their time off short to ease financial pressures, a study has suggested today.

Some 28pc of those surveyed had gone into the red due to their time out of work, typically accruing almost £2,500 in debts, while just a quarter felt financially prepared for motherhood, according to research from uSwitch.com.

Some 11pc of mothers said they had ended their maternity leave early to boost their ailing finances, while 9pc said they had been forced to reconsider plans not to return to work.

Those mothers surveyed said their net monthly household income had dropped from £2,866 on average to £1,654 typically while they had been on maternity leave.

One in 10 people questioned said they had borrowed cash from relatives, while 14pc had used credit cards, loans and overdrafts to help tide them over. ...