How to Make Money on Maternity Leave

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 lots of ways to earn extra cash, but as a new parent, certain ones are better than others.

You'll likely want something that can be done remotely, with limited travel, or at home since you'll be caring for your new family member. It's a good idea to choose something that's flexible and doesn't require you to do something at a certain time, otherwise, your infant may need to be fed or need a diaper change right as you're about to hop on an important zoom call.

Seeking out a high-paying side hustle could also help you maximize your income in whatever amount of time you do have available. And you never know, it could turn into a full-time job.

Here are some of the best side hustles that fall into these categories and are worth exploring:

Freelance writing

If you're handy with words, there are a lot of people out there willing to pay you money to write things for them. Freelance writing can be many different things, such as writing journalism articles for newspapers and magazines, writing "content" (blog posts and other articles) for websites, or even creating white papers and website copy for businesses. Sites such as Upwork make it easy to get started as a freelance writer, but you'll earn more money by finding clients yourself.

Affiliate marketing

Many social media influencers and bloggers make a tidy living through affiliate marketing. To do this, you gain a following with your own blog articles or social media posts and include special links back to certain products. You'll need to add disclaimers to these links so people are aware it's an affiliate link. If anyone clicks on them and makes a purchase, you'll earn a cut of the amount.

Virtual assisting

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, or any number of things. It's especially good if you want a close working relationship with someone, and it's easy to get started.

Transcribing

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. You don't need anything to get started other than a computer and headset, but a cheap foot pedal can help speed things up and boost your income.

Selling crafts

If you're good with crafts, consider making things and selling them in person or online through websites like Etsy. This requires a lot of honesty and careful analysis regarding how much time and effort you put in versus what you get in return. You might be a great knitter, for example, but if someone offers to pay you $100 for a custom afghan and it would cost $50 in materials and take 25 hours to make, it might not be worth it.

Creating an online course

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.

Participating in surveys and focus groups

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. Survey sites like Survey Junkie, Branded Surveys, Swagbucks are a great way to find these opportunities.

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. If you can qualify for any digital or one-on-one focus groups, however, you'll earn even more. 

Selling printables

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 things 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, and they make a good source of passive income.

Managing someone's social media

Another work-from-home job option is social media management. Similar to being a virtual assistant, managing social media pages and profiles for small businesses, bloggers, influencers, and brands could be a good way to earn extra money while caring for your child. Keep in mind that it’s more challenging than managing a personal account, and remember to log out of your client's profile before you start posting on your own.

Tutoring

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 kinds of websites such as VIPKid, Italki, Care.com, and more.

If you'll be tutoring someone live you'll need to make sure they're OK with any interruptions in case your child needs assistance, but you can also offer support and feedback via email or chat as well.

Proofreading and editing

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 with freelance writing, there are all kinds of opportunities out there for fact-checkers, editors, proofreaders, and more.

Housesitting and petsitting

If you can take your child with you, find a temporary caregiver, or (safely) allow pets into your home, housesitting or petsitting could be a great way to earn extra money. There are lots of websites such as Rover, Wag!, Care.com, and more where you can list your services, or you can post in local community groups on social media.

Writing ebooks

If you've ever dreamed about writing your own book, now might be the perfect chance (until you're an empty nester, that is). 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.

Cashback apps

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

Here are some other ideas that may help you stretch the dollars that you're earning during your unpaid maternity leave even further:

Remember to take care of yourself

It's easy to get stressed out and lost in the hustle with earning money and caring for your new baby, but it's also good to take time for your own mental and physical well-being. Self-care isn't just a nice thought; it's an investment in your ability to take care of your family too.

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'll need to 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 your or your spouse’s 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.

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 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.