16 hrs a week, term time only. Pay and benefits advice please?

[Foreveryawning]

Hi,
I've recently applied to a term time only job which is 16 hours a week. I'm a single mum to one 7 month old, so the 16 hours which are spread over 3 mornings would be ideal for me in terms of childcare ect. But I'm reluctant to apply for these sorts of jobs as im struggling to work out how much I'd get paid each month over a year and how much I'd get from housing benefit and tax credits. I don't want to go for a job like this and then end up stuck in terms of finances. Could anyone offer any advice?

[ivykaty44]

Depends whether the job pays you only the weeks you work or all year pro rata?

[Issummeroveryet]

I'm sure when I worked term time only I had to do enough hours that it worked out as 16hrs pw over the whole year. I got paid during the holidays too. This was a few years ago so might have changed but the job center told me it wasn't worth it financially doing less than 16hrs. Be interested to know if it has changed as I'm currently looking at going back to work and struggling to find 16+ hour jobs that fit the hours I can do

[ivykaty44]

I wouldn't look at jobs term time only tbh as you have at least three years before school, and even then there are lots of holiday clubs for DC

All jobs will have different T&C

If your pay stops for the 6 week's holiday - so may your HB if your not earning

It's best to have a job that pays the same money week in week out when claiming g benefits

[SpinMill]

Sorry, know this is a few weeks old now, but just wanted to say in my experience if a term time job is permanent, you will get paid all year round, but only for the hours you work.
So hourly rate x 16 hours per week x 39 weeks per year, divided by 12 months, so you get a regular income.
When I claimed tax credits, they asked how many hours I 'normally work' in a week, and were happy to accept the number of hours I do per week, term time, as normal hours, they weren't averaged out or anything.