Should You Get a Personal Loan for Maternity Leave?

Most developed countries pride themselves on new parent leave laws that ensure that the parents and baby all get time to bond, fully recover, and adjust to the new family dynamic.

The United States doesn’t quite have that.

Depending on your employer, you might be looking at a few months of paid time off, a few weeks, or nothing at all. There’s no consistency. You may be entitled to take time off without pay, but who can afford that?

It’s no wonder that some new parents consider taking out a personal loan for maternity leave. Depending on the situation, it might look like the only option.

Everyday Expenses You Can Use a Personal Loan For

If you’re not collecting your full paycheck during maternity leave, you may need to consider a personal loan for basic living expenses. The loan funds look pretty darn essential when you’re spending them on expenses like:

• Rent/mortgage payments
• Groceries
• Utility bills
• Insurance premiums
• Gas to fill up the car
• Doctor visits
• Prescriptions
• Car payments
• Baby essentials
• Childcare costs

Pros and Cons of Using a Personal Loan During Maternity Leave

Loan products can be valuable tools, but taking on debt isn’t always the best path forward. Consider these pros and cons of taking out a personal loan for maternity leave.

Pros

• You can keep up on bills and essential expenses. Financial holes can be difficult to climb out of. There are real consequences if you can’t pay rent or buy groceries.
• You can protect your credit score. Late and missed payments can hurt your credit rating for years. As long as you can repay your loan as agreed, the extra funds may help you protect your credit.
• Fixed payments are easy to budget for. Do you know how much your next grocery bill will be? What about your electricity bill? These things fluctuate with prices and other factors. Installment loan payments, on the other hand, are consistent each month.
• Funds can be used for anything you need. While some financial products and assistance programs have strict guidelines, personal loans do not. You can use the money however you like.

Cons

• The repayment period may start during your leave. Repayment tends to restart fairly quickly, sometimes within weeks. If you’re still out of work, it may be difficult to make payments.
• Interest means you’re paying more overall. While a personal loan enables you to make ends meet, each payment made with your loan funds ultimately costs more than if you were able to pay it out of your paycheck because of the interest charged.
• It’s not a great long-term solution. Having time at home with your baby is wonderful, and it can be tempting to extend that period as long as possible. But the financial realities here mean this works better for short-term solutions.
• Borrowing can lead to future stress. A clear repayment plan is essential. Otherwise, you’re likely to go from one challenging financial situation to another. Protect your future self by making sure you can make payments without undue stress.

Responsible Borrowing During Maternity Leave

As the cons above indicate, while a personal loan during maternity leave can be extremely helpful, there are potential risks and downsides to take into account. You can minimize those factors by following some simple guidelines. 

First and foremost, only borrow what you absolutely need. It can be tempting to give yourself a bigger cushion, but remember that you’re not bringing home a paycheck during this period. 

Next, we recommend looking at a few different loan offers to find the best loan for your circumstances. At Honest Loans, we will take your loan request and send it to a whole network of lenders and financial partners. So there’s no need to drive around town going lender to lender, the process can be done from the comfort of your home by visiting just one website, honestloans.net.

This has already been touched on, but it bears repeating: Make a budget. Factor in your loan payments. Make sure you can repay the loan as agreed without difficulty. 

Submit Your Maternity Leave Personal Loan Request with Honest Loans

Congratulations on your new bundle of joy! If a personal loan is the best choice for you, use Honest Loans. It’s the quickest, most convenient way to get your request in front of  a network of lenders and financial partners. 

Submit your loan request today.