If you’re looking for ways to contribute to your household income whilst caring for your little one, you’ve come to the right place!
I’ve done extensive research and found real success stories of mothers who have made real money whilst on maternity leave – and no, there are no weird surveys or gimmicky business ideas here, only real, legitimate ways to earn money.
Let’s jump in.
How to Make Money on Maternity Leave

1) Remote Work Opportunities
Potential Income: $45,000-$90,000+ per year
In the first 4 months of 2024 alone, Indeed reported a whopping 32% increase in the number of remote jobs being advertised – perfect if you’re seeking a more stable income.
Typical remote job opportunities pay between the $45,000-$90,000/year mark.
But this can be more if you’re in a finance, tech or customer service industry, and bonus, many now offer flexible hours.
Highest paying industries (from highest to lowest) include:
- Recruitment
- Marketing
- Business Management
- Consultant
- Sales Management
- Web Development
- Software Engineering
- Project management
- Customer Service
That said, if you have the expertise, these roles are highly profitable and in-demand too:
- Online Physicians/Doctors
- Online Fitness Coaches
- Online Interior Designers
- Exercise Physiologist
- Private Investigator (bit of an odd ball, I know)
Websites like Indeed, Working Nomads, FlexJobs and Remote.co curate remote job listings, making it easier for you to find flexible work-from-home opportunities that suit your specific skills and schedules.
Pro Tip:
Many people find remote opportunities using their Linkedin profile, some of which are never advertised anywhere else.
2) Online Tutoring
Potential Income: $22-$70+ per hour
If you have a passion for education and expertise in a particular subject, online tutoring can be a rewarding way to make money during maternity leave.
The average online tutor makes $39/hour, but if you’re tutoring for exam passes e.g. SAT biology or GRE or A-levels, you can make significantly more; around $50-$70/hour.
Platforms like Tutor.com and VIPKID.com connect tutors with students seeking academic assistance in various subjects and grade levels.
Pro Tip:
Avoid QKids & Magic Ears platforms – they pay extremely poorly, and sometimes don’t even pay out at all even if you’ve completed the lessons.
If a parent complains, it doesn’t matter if they’re in the wrong, your pay immediately gets docked. Not good.
Related: 11 Best Companies to Make Money Teaching English OnLine as a Second Language
3) Blogging
Potential Income: $300-$50,000+
I know, I know, you’ve already read about this one EVERYWHERE, but it’s for good reason; it has the potential to make serious money, and I know because I’ve done it!
In 3 months of launching my first ever blog (not this one, and not in the money niche – it was in home decor and interior design), I made just under $10,000.
Not bad for something that only cost me $125 to set-up (hosting fees, email, domain and themes, plugins etc).
Today, it still makes me a few hundred dollars a month even though I haven’t touched it for nearly 2 years.
Blogging offers new moms a creative outlet to share their experiences, insights, and expertise with a global audience.
The most profitable niches include;
- Parenting
- Lifestyle
- Health
- Fitness
- Finance
- Travel
- Cooking/Baking
- Gardening
That said, you do NOT want to enter a niche you have no real passion for, remember you’re writing 3-5+ articles a week on it.
It gets repetitive and if you’re always bored, you’re going to struggle to power through the hard moments when traffic takes an inevitable dip.
The plus side, there are many ways to monetize your audience here, everything from advertising, sponsored content, affiliate marketing, and selling digital products or services.
Related: How to Make Serious Money on Youtube – 7+ Income Streams
4) Freelance
Potential Income: $47-$132+ per hour
Many people think freelancing means you’re on incredibly low wages for high hours, but that couldn’t be further from the truth!
The average freelancing mom on maternity leave makes around $47/hour, climbing up to $132/hour with just 2-3+ years in the field and a good portfolio.
Related: How to Find Real, High Paying Freelance Writing Clients Online
The highest paying freelancing industries with the most opportunities in 2024 are:
- Content Writing
- Copywriting
- Graphic Design
- Social Media Management
- Consulting
- Video Editing
- SEO/Commerce Specialism
Everyone thinks Fiverr is a terrible place to pitch high-priced services, but that’s a complete myth.
Take Hazel Miller for example, she makes roughly $5,500 a month writing long form content – for just 1200 words she charges $300.
Take a look at Upwork and Linkedin too. These are other recommended platforms which successful freelancers use.
5) Virtual Assistant Services
Potential Income: $25-$45+ per hour
With over 137,000 businesses launched every day (!), entrepreneurs are in dire need of virtual assistants to help with administrative tasks, scheduling, email management, and anything else that lightens their load!
Related: How I Make $10,000 a Month as a Freelance Virtual Assistant (In Just 8 Months)
If you have a headset and basic administrative skills, you can easily provide administrative support to clients from the comfort of your own home.
The average online virtual assistant makes $25-$45/hour, depending on which industry they’re in, how much experience they have and how many hours they work.
Websites like Virtual Assistant Jobs and Indeed often feature listings for virtual assistant positions – just know that they are heavily sought after though, so you’ll definitely want to spruce up your resume/CV.
Related: How to Find Dream, High Paying Virtual Assistant Clients (Even with Little Experience)
My friend actually set out to be a virtual assistant just to cover expenses on maternity leave, but she ended up making $98,000 in her first year and loving it, so never went back to her regular job!
6) Digital E-commerce
Potential Income: $6,000+ a month
Not as hard as it sounds, promise!
I set-up two Etsy shops online last year and made a total of $14,350 with just 22 listings across both shops. Not bad for just 60 hours of upfront investment.
Related: Best Things to Sell on Etsy to Make $5,000+ a Month Online
Digital downloads are 100% the way to go if you’re strapped on cash, want to keep your profit margins high and don’t want to make, ship or keep physical inventory in the house.
I’ve curated a list of the very best digital downloads to sell online, including how much profit you can expect per sale as well as what niches are currently best-selling.
Related: 17+ Best Digital Products That Sell Like Crazy On Etsy (That Are Easy to Create)
7) Affiliate Marketing
Potential Income: $3,000+ a month
Affiliate marketing simply involves promoting products or services and earning a commission for every sale or lead generated through your referral link.
There are a ton of ways to promote these products including blogs, social media channels, youtube descriptions as well as on email newsletters.
The profit potential is unlimited, with the average affiliate marketer earning around $500-$600 a month.
That said, this is fairly low estimate given how much I’ve made in the past with it, as well as countless other success stories.
Realistically, with a bit of effort and determination, you could easily pull in $3,000-$5,000 a month.
The beauty of this? It’s pretty much passive income.
Affiliate networks like Amazon Associates, ShareASale, and CJ Affiliate offer a wide range of affiliate programs to choose from.
8) Social Media Influencing
Potential Income: $345-$10,000+
Have a strong presence on social media? Love creating video based content?
Brands are always looking out for the next family or mom they can collaborate with to show off their new products.
And let me tell you, brand partnerships can be seriously lucrative!
- With just 1-10k followers, you can expect to make around $345 PER campaign (some of these campaigns are just a set of Instagram stories by the way).
- With 10k-100k followers, you’re looking at the $1,500-$3,000 mark
- With 100k+ followers, you can easily command between $5,000-$10,000+ per sponsorship.
Sharing authentic, engaging content is the key here though – no-one bonds with a content creator who is constantly bombarding their audience with product advertisements that don’t seem relevant.
FYI, influencer marketing platforms like Influence.co and AspireIQ help facilitate collaborations between influencers and brands.
9) Photography
Potential Income: $1,000+ a month
If you have a burning passion for photography and a talent for capturing beautiful moments, you can easily monetize your skills by selling prints online.
Dani Wild makes around $3,500 a month selling her wildlife photography prints online.
Whilst Kelsi and Patrick behind Eternal Tides photography make a whopping $12,000+ a month selling their babymoon Hawaii photo packages to expectant parents.
I love how there’s a ton of room to diversify income in this industry by selling anything from signed prints, to services to calendars to retreat tours to photography courses – the sky’s the limit!
To start, you’ll just need a good camera and editing system such as Adobe Photoshop to correct any small imperfections.
Related: 15 Lucrative Photography Side Hustles To Turn Your Passion Into Profit!
10) Fitness Instruction
Potential Income: $4,000+ a month
There’s a major growing trend for new moms looking to get back into a fitness routine.
In fact, ‘fitness routine for moms on maternity’ was searched 1,340 times just last month (May 2024).
If you have a passion for fitness and want to help clients achieve their fitness goals be it getting toned, eating healthier, losing baby weight, or just feeling more confident in their own skin, this could be the gig for you.
The average online fitness instructor with their own programs makes around $4,350 a month, but of course, there are many who bypass that mark too.
Take Ashley behind Get Mom Strong – she rakes in a whopping $32,000+ a month helping moms ‘regain their strength, health and confidence’.
Other top-selling classes include pilates, yoga, barre inspired sessions, zumba, dance-a-thons, as well as strength training for women.
Bonus:
You also keep fit doing it, and have that little extra push to care for yourself on maternity.
11) Event Planning
Potential Income: $5,277+ a month
If you have strong organizational and planning skills, you can offer event planning services to clients for weddings, parties, or corporate events.
I’ve left this idea for last because I know not every mom is going to want to get this involved on maternity leave.
But IF this is your thing, you’ll be happy to know you can make $6,500+ per event.
Some smaller business/corporate events only take up to 1-2 weeks to plan for, so that’s some healthy profit.
The average part-time event planner makes $5,277 a month according to Zip Recruiter.
Whether it’s coordinating logistics, managing vendors, or designing event themes, event planning can be a lucrative business opportunity for new moms with a knack for creativity and attention to detail.