"there are so many people who are worse off than you."
That's one of my points - just put a little more directly than I did. I and my husband are a relatively high-earning, modestly spending couple who have one British/European holiday a year and share a very small, modest car between us that we avoid using wherever possible. If we will have to save very, very carefully for the next 6 months just to cover normal bills during my maternity leave, then how do lower income couples cope? Where's the safety net for them?
The government is encouraging women to breast-feed for at least 6 months and yet financially pushing them back into work after 6 weeks. It doesn't add up.
We will, of course, be trying to lower our standard of living over the next 6 months (as you quite rightly point out that we should) but there's not a huge amount that we can realistically cut back on - we're fairly frugal compared to many of my friends and colleagues.
My other point is that there was no information available to me on the company intranet about maternity benefits for flight crew. I was originally verbally misinformed so didn't start saving as early as hindsight would now suggest would have been sensible. It's all very well suggesting more careful planning but you need accurate information to start with. I'd like to raise awareness amongst other pilots so that they have time to plan ahead and save sufficiently.
Oh and I don't think I'll be swapping my partner quite yet thanks
To choose a partner on the basis of their income isn't necessarily the best recipe for a happy marriage.