I'm getting way ahead of myself, since a need to take maternity leave is definitely NOT imminent, but it's in my nature to think ahead, and I am in my early 30s and female.
It seems that Harper's government now allows the self-employed to pay into EI and collect special benefits, which include maternity, parental, sickness and compassionate care leave. I was very much in favour of this move before, but in actually crunching the numbers--I have to wonder if it's really worth it at all.
Employment Insurance special benefits for self-employed people
The program is voluntary, but has a few catches.
1) You have to register for the program 1 year before you take any of the special benefits.
2) If you take any of the special benefits, you must continue to contribute to EI for the rest of your self-employed life.
Note that you only need to contribute the employee portion, not the employer portion.
Sitting down and crunching the numbers for 50 weeks of mat/parental leave (and ignoring inflation and the time-value of money for simplicity), I'd have to pay just under a maximum of $750 per year for EI for 30+ years, just to collect a maximum of just under 23,000 of EI for mat/parental leave.... assuming I do this once and for the full year.
On the other hand... 23,000 for one years' worth of taxable income is peanuts. I could instead do this the old-fashioned way and try to save up ahead of time, take some time off and then work part-time afterward.
The job security aspect of it is moot point for me. Whether I choose to pay EI or not is up to me. How much time I take off is partly up to me and up to the demands of my business.
So the question remains... is it really worthwhile to participate in this?
It seems that Harper's government now allows the self-employed to pay into EI and collect special benefits, which include maternity, parental, sickness and compassionate care leave. I was very much in favour of this move before, but in actually crunching the numbers--I have to wonder if it's really worth it at all.
Employment Insurance special benefits for self-employed people
The program is voluntary, but has a few catches.
1) You have to register for the program 1 year before you take any of the special benefits.
2) If you take any of the special benefits, you must continue to contribute to EI for the rest of your self-employed life.
Note that you only need to contribute the employee portion, not the employer portion.
Sitting down and crunching the numbers for 50 weeks of mat/parental leave (and ignoring inflation and the time-value of money for simplicity), I'd have to pay just under a maximum of $750 per year for EI for 30+ years, just to collect a maximum of just under 23,000 of EI for mat/parental leave.... assuming I do this once and for the full year.
On the other hand... 23,000 for one years' worth of taxable income is peanuts. I could instead do this the old-fashioned way and try to save up ahead of time, take some time off and then work part-time afterward.
The job security aspect of it is moot point for me. Whether I choose to pay EI or not is up to me. How much time I take off is partly up to me and up to the demands of my business.
So the question remains... is it really worthwhile to participate in this?