How to Make Money on Maternity Leave: 14 Simple Ways

Bringing home your new child is a stressful and challenging time, especially if — like most of us — you're not a millionaire. Depending on where you live and work, you may face a big pay cut while on leave, or you might not even be paid at all. Dealing with these income shortages is especially tough because your expenses are likely increasing now that you have a larger family.

The good news is that there are still plenty of options for making money on maternity leave. It probably won't be enough to replace your regular job, but if you've got some extra time on your hands while you're caring for your new child, it could be a good way to stay busy and earn some extra money at the same time.

How to make money on maternity leave

There are many ways to make money from home, but as a new parent, you may have some particular circumstances that make finding a job somewhat more challenging.

Everyone is different, but here are some requirements you may have:

• Something you can do remotely with limited travel
• Flexibility that doesn't require you to do something at a certain time
• No phone work so you don’t have to worry about a crying infant in the background

There are plenty of side hustles that parents on maternity or paternity leave can do to supplement their income, or even turn into a full-time job, allowing them to stay at home. Keep reading to learn the top ways.

Freelance writing

Potential earnings: $23 per hour

If you're handy with words, there are a lot of people out there willing to pay you money to write for them. Freelance writing can be many different things including:

• Writing journalism articles for newspapers and magazines
• Writing "content" (blog posts and other articles) for websites
• Creating white papers and website copy for businesses

Sites such as Upwork and Fiverr make it easy to get started as a freelance writer. You can leverage their large audience and not have to worry about marketing yourself during such a busy and important time in your life.

Affiliate marketing

Potential earnings: $39 per hour, depending on the size of your audience

Many social media influencers and bloggers make a decent living through affiliate marketing. To do this, you must have a following with your own blog or social accounts. Once you do, you can include special links back to products your audience will like and that fits the niche you cover.

It’s important to only provide links to products or services that you believe in, and not just to make a quick buck. Your audience will lose faith in you if you seem like you’re just trying to sell them something, the products and services must fit within what you typically discuss.

Virtual assistant

Potential earnings: $24 per hour

Virtual assistants help small businesses, individual bloggers, and other freelancers with routine tasks such as

• Researching information for articles
• Scheduling interviews
• Sending follow-up emails
• Managing calendars
• Managing their social media accounts
• Writing blog posts
• Answering calls or emails

Just be careful if you become a virtual assistant, the company you provide services for may need you at certain times of the day or may need a quiet environment if you must answer phone calls. Fortunately, there are many virtual assistant positions that don’t require phone work or specific hours. Try Upwork and Fiverr for opportunities or consider virtual assistant marketplace like Time Etc.

Transcribing

Potential earnings: $20 per hour

If you're a fast typist (or you want to become one), there are lots of money-making opportunities with transcription sites. The client will send you an audio file, you type up an accurate transcript, send it back, and get paid. It's an especially easy and flexible way to earn money if you don't mind digital grunt work. The nice thing is that you don't need anything to get started other than a computer and headset, and can work on your own schedule as long as you meet deadlines. However, keep in mind that a cheap foot pedal can help speed things up and boost your income.

You can get some of the best transcription jobs that pay on sites like Rev, Scribie, and TransribeMe.

Selling crafts

Potential earnings: Varies based on what you sell

If you're good with crafts, consider making things and selling them in person or online through websites like Etsy. To determine what you should sell, browse the site and see what others sell compared to what you can create.

Keep in mind your materials’ cost and the time spent creating the items when pricing them. Also, consider Etsy’s 6.5% charge for the total sale when pricing your items.

When deciding what to sell or how to price it, look at your competitors and see what you could do better or what void you could fill that they don’t offer so you can get the views and sales. This gig could be great to make money on maternity leave, though, because it offers a creative outlet and you can work it as little or as much as you want.

Creating an online course

Potential earnings: $40 per hour

If people have ever asked you to teach them something because they valued your skills, it might be worth creating a series of high-quality videos that you could use to create and sell your own online course. There are many places like Udemy where you can easily upload video courses, or you can create your own more professional version through sites like Teachable.

Like anything you might sell, research your competition. See what courses are already available in the niche you plan to teach and determine what you could offer that they don’t. For example, they may not offer one-on-one support or a private Facebook group. If you go above and beyond and offer what they want, you may take the sales from your competitors.

Participating in surveys and focus groups

Potential earnings: Varies significantly

Many brands and marketers are willing to pay you for your opinion, and filling out surveys in the few moments you have throughout the day could be a good way to earn a small amount of extra money. There are many survey sites including:

• Survey Junkie
• Branded Surveys
• Swagbucks

Although taking online surveys won’t make you a lot of money, every little bit helps, and surveys typically don’t take long to complete. I think they are great for maternity leave because you can answer surveys from almost anywhere and any time of day. Plus, if you can qualify for any digital or one-on-one focus groups, you can earn even more.

Selling printables

Potential earnings: Varies based on what you sell

If you're a natural-born organizer and designer, creating printables that you sell online is a very easy way to make passive income. People are always looking for specific planners, checklists, organizers, to-do lists, etc.

If you create these items for certain niches, such as gardening, finances, games, family activities, pets, etc., you'll be well on your way to success. These are easy to create and list online on websites such as Etsy. Plus, they make a good source of passive income because you earn money each time someone makes a purchase even though you didn’t do any more work.

Social media manager

Potential earnings: $31 per hour

Just like companies often need freelance writers to help with their content, most business owners don’t understand or have the time to manage their social media. If you have the know-how, you can provide your services to small businesses and earn money working from home.

You can advertise your services on Fiverr or Upwork, or even network with companies you already know from your time at work. Just be sure you can meet their time restraints, including their posting schedule and that it doesn’t overwhelm you with the time spent at home with your newborn.

Tutoring

Potential earnings: $14 to $18 per hour plus incentives

There are plenty of students who need help learning the skills you already know, even if it's something you take for granted like the English language or simple mathematics. You can find students in person or online through all types of websites such as VIPKid, Italki, and Care.com.

You can also consider tutoring in person, but keep in mind the needs of your child if you’ll have your baby with you. Some new parents even tutor via Zoom to give students one-on-one attention but from home so they don’t have to disrupt their baby’s schedule.

Proofreading and editing

Potential earnings: $28 per hour

If you notice grammatical mistakes or other errors as you're reading things, chances are someone will be willing to pay you to check their work. As with freelance writing, there are many opportunities out there for fact-checkers, editors, and proofreaders.

I suggest listing your services on Fiverr, letting potential clients know the services you offer and your charges. You can also apply for jobs on Upwork, but you must pay to apply for each job and there’s no guarantee that you’ll get it.

House Sitting and pet sitting

Potential earnings: $16 to $17 an hour

If you can take your child with you, find a temporary caregiver, or (safely) allow pets into your home, house sitting or pet sitting could be a great way to earn extra money. There are many websites such as

• Rover
• Wag!
• Care.com

I like these sites because you can list your services, fees, and have the protection of the platform so you don’t get stiffed. Each site vets the caretakers, but it’s up to you to ask qualifying questions of potential clients to determine if you feel comfortable working with them.

Writing ebooks

Potential earnings: $39 per hour

If you've ever dreamt about writing your own book, now might be the perfect chance. The market is flooded with e-books these days, but if you're a good storyteller and you know how to market yourself, you may be able to make money online.

I suggest combing the market, focusing on the niche you intend to write a book and seeing where you can fill in gaps that no one else has touched yet. This will increase your chances of becoming more well-known and making more money.

Don’t worry, it’s easy to publish your own book using Kindle Direct Publishing.

Cashback apps

Potential earnings: Varies

One simple way to earn money at the grocery store and other retailers is by using a cashback app. Some have offers you need to select while shopping, whereas others let you scan any receipt for points. You can typically redeem your points for gift cards from retailers such as Amazon or you may be able to redeem points using PayPal.

Some popular options include:

• Fetch
• Rakuten
• Ibotta
• Dosh

How to manage money on maternity leave

If you’re wondering how to make money on maternity leave, it’s important to know how to maximize your budget and manage your money so you don’t have to burn the candle at both ends during this precious time in your life.

Know your rights under state law

Certain states have passed laws to make things easier on new parents. This might be a state-sponsored paid parental leave program or a rule requiring more employers to offer benefits. Either way, look up what your state offers for maternity pay, so you can be sure you're getting everything you're owed.

Know your rights under federal law

The Family and Medical Leave Act requires certain employers to allow you up to 12 weeks of unpaid parental leave without firing you, about 56% of workers qualify for this benefit. Make sure you know whether you do or not. If you're fired because you took leave, it could mean the difference between being able to sue your employer or not.

Know what employer-provided benefits you have, if any

As your due date approaches and before you take family leave, it's important to chat with your employer about any benefits you qualify for and to let them know your parental leave plans. If you have an employee handbook, it's a good idea to highlight any relevant pages.

Buy short-term disability insurance before you're pregnant

If you're planning a pregnancy and your workplace doesn't offer short-term disability insurance, it's a good idea to purchase it in advance to help make up the difference while you're not working. Pregnancy is considered a pre-existing condition so you must have it in place before you get pregnant.

Set up a parental leave budget

Setting up a budget (also known as a "spending plan") can help you ensure you make ends meet while you're on leave. A budget lets you know exactly how much extra you need to earn because you know exactly how much you'll have to spend.

You could also use a budget to help you save money during the pregnancy. It can be tough to know the costs you’ll face during your leave beforehand. Even so, it's a good idea to get a target that you can adjust later as needed. It might also give you ideas for things you could cut like subscriptions you’re not watching.

You might consider using the Trim app to help you find unwanted subscriptions and other ways to save money on bills.

Look into community and governmental assistance programs

Programs such as WIC (Women, Infants, and Children) were meant to support new families with healthy food. You can also look into food banks or other community support options which you can get help locating through calling or visiting 211.org. Don't be shy about using these support options — they’re meant for you, after all.

Avoid multi-level marketing schemes (MLMs)

Frazzled parents in need of extra money are common targets of MLMs such as Lularoe and Herbalife. They're (relatively) easy to get into, offer a seemingly supportive community to join, and a potentially infinite amount of income — until you learn that 99% of people actually end up losing money in them, according to an FTC study. Although tempting, it's best to avoid them.

FAQs

Bottom line

Caring for a new family member isn't always easy, especially if you're short on funds because you don’t have paid time off for maternity or paternity leave. Luckily, there are many opportunities when it comes to how to make money on parental leave while caring for your new child. It'll be tough, but remember to extend yourself some grace. You're doing the best you can, and you deserve it.