Poverty trap? What to do

Wouldn't it be nice if you could choose as the OP to block people from commenting further on your thread? 🙄 Or hit a button where everyone then agrees to just ignore someone that's relentlessly whittling away negatively at the op.

I've just seen another thread where a poster was badgered so much she has broken down and deregistered, when all she wanted was a safe space to vent.

I really feel like MN has gone to pot. We have always been a nest of vipers but not in this horrid badgering way I am seeing some posters adopt towards an OP lately.

I could suggest that @WillYouPutYourCoatOncould absolutely work far more than 19 hours per week. That’s not much, is it? Even if not full-time, why not more? She doesn’t because the financial gain is not currently worth it. It is the same for the OP while her son is currently and temporarily not in school. @WillYouPutYourCoatOn ’s circumstances will change and so will the OP’s. I understand both perspectives but OP is getting a grilling for it.

Quite.

I’m worried about working and not being able to pay the high rent.

And this has been spelt out how you can do this, numerous times.

Not everyone is money hungry and I don’t believe in having all the benefits if you’re not actually in need of them.

Completely inconsistent with the fact you don't want to work full time to pay rent, because you'd lose the benefits that cover it. Which is it?

I can’t believe a page ago you were high and mighty about me ‘choosing’ not to work and you’re there playing the system and now asking why I’m not claiming thousands when I could.

Yet after rudely sniping about "useless advice" from "made up fantasy land" it turns out that all of the financial information you were given is indeed correct, and you've even discovered your UC claim is hundreds of pounds understated each month. Who knows how much, you say £1000 in some places. You say it's "more than double what you currently get" in others. Again, and on behalf of other PP who took the time to show you, despite your rudeness, you're welcome.

You'll stay "trapped" OP. You'll virtually make sure of it, regardless of the facts. It's taken you ten pages to understand you haven't even got a correct UC claim after being unbelievably rude and completely unapologetic to people taking the time to show you it was wrong.

Yet you haven't claimed for her. Which makes zero sense. It would seem that you are waiting for something when there's a significant amount of money that you could be claiming.

An extra £300,400, 500 whatever her claim might be. You've actively chosen not to receive that?

This would seem a big help towards the rent increase you're worrying about.

No, but hopefully that will not be the case imminently, I think it's pretty clear the advice is on the basis you sort his temporary situation of his placement out - or did genuinely you think we were suggesting you should work right now when you physically can't leave the house

You can't do this long term though. Not paying to work full time only applies for a short amount of time. It never "pays" to work zero hours.

You aren't interested in finding the optimum amount of work you can do, to both increase your income without penalty and get back in the workplace? You're not interested in thousands of funding whilst being unclear how you'll pay under £1000, mainly subsided rent in the future?

It absolutely pays to work. So, when I have no childcare costs in September, I will be increasing my hours. Because in order to still get CA, I'd have to cut my hours severely to only take home £602pcm. I've already secured this increase and a pay rise, by having my foot in the door with my low hours I work now. I'd have been able to do so even if I was only working 1 day a week. It's about having your foot in somewhere as well as the money.

I suspect, you will be putting in a claim for DD DLA in the next 18mths just before DS hits 16 and converts to PIP. Then you will have potentially another decade or so of the same financial situation via DD. You do need to consider her being refused, or even DS being refused PIP. It's always a possibility. The loss of DLA/PIP and CA would lose you just under £900 a month. That's huge. And put you into a different category of expected to work for UC. Even if you think it's nailed on, as you've seen from your current award looking wrong, you can't assume anything. And then, when she hits 16, then what? Cross everything for PIP for her? It's a risky way to live.

I get you don't like looking at it. But you truly need too. Full time isn't the sensible answer right now, very short term, very part time would potentially be. Then increased part time. And depending on what happens with DS/PIP, DD/DLA changes what the best route would be.

Some people really don't have a clue. Of course there should be a suitable school for op's son but this isn't a rare case. So many children are not in school because there simply isn't anywhere suitable. Poorly trained staff also.putting unrealistic expectations on ND children, causing fallout and absence. The parent then gets more fall out at home. Probably exhausted, can't guarantee they can work x hours and after all this fall.out whilst trying to fight for their child they are expected to work for slightly more money. It's ridiculous and why so many parents are burnt out.

The fault is with the system not the parents. Op I hope the new school is a good for your ds and things improve for you all soon.

Ignore the negative posters.

But she doesn't say she's short of money or needs extra support, in fact she says the opposite.
The thread is about how she can make working worthwhile. Well, it was until you came along.

I can't help it's the same principle in your eyes when it's not.

She's not looking at the 15hrs (or whatever it may be) which would greatly benefit her. Nor the additional 22.5 that wouldn't.

I am doing the 19hrs that greatly benefit me. Not the additional 18.5 that wouldn't.

Correct, we could both work double (or maybe even triple/quadruple for OP) to barely benefit. That's not the point, nor the "trap".

£1000 is a massive difference when someone is claiming they can't afford their future rent (which happens to be just under £1000). It is the very difference between being "trapped" or not.

Also, OP, have you applied to:

The Norfolk Assistance Scheme
Family Fund
Norfolk Short Breaks
(If you are on prepayment meter) Fuel vouchers
Local organisations providing Cash4Kids funding
Your closest Nourishing Norfolk food hub

Thousands worth of support you can claim/savings you can make, some specific to Norfolk, some not.

She is not doing the 15 hours she could. Like you are not doing the extra 21 hours you could. The exact numbers are irrelevant. Same principle in my eyes. You could do more.

I mean if that's all you can interpret despite what is written...

OP is only picking "no work" in her calcs because 16hrs wouldn't benefit her. Ignoring that 15hrs might. Or maybe 12. She will have an optimum point. And that optimum point isn't nil hours. It's never nil hours.

Hardly.

I am "trapped" earning over £1000 a month plus £330 CA for working half a week. As I said, if I were to be a single woman and put in my UC claim now, my wages plus CA, CB, council tax reduction, rent paid, DLA, childcare reimbursement, would net over £4k. The same as someone on circa £70kpa, whilst I do half a week. Trapped? Really? It astonishes people to hear the equivalent salaries, but it is very much the reality.

And yes, OP isn't getting that the £50k salary is gross, and net to net is the comparable amount hitting the banks. But at least it's finally sinking in that her UC claim doesn't match the circumstances she states and she's looking into it. Hopefully she gets the right amount soon.

Ok thanks. So there is a financial reason you don’t choose to work full-time. Same as the OP chooses not to work at the moment. Same argument.

I appreciate the complexities of your care responsibilities - but surely the ‘poverty trap’ won’t go away without a long term solution to work? Even £100 better off a month is one step closer to eventually earning more.

Appreciate it’s not possible atm as your DS is not at school but for me:

£100 better off a month + prospects for career progression + gaining experience

is way better than

£100 worse off a month + not gaining experience + CV gap.

IMO that extra £100 a month is worth more than just the extra cash. But that’s just my opinion!

Well, thanks to my "obsession" with your finances (as opposed to just pointing out repeatedly your calcs didn't add up despite your rude insistence we were randoms off the internet talking fantasy talk?), and other PP taking the time to manually list it out for you, turns out, your calculation looks wrong.

And you appear to be entitled to much more than you are currently receiving.

You're welcome

Oh and the online calculators aren't sophisticated enough to work out adjustments to CA to provide an assessable amount. They'll just do basic UC calcs. The CA calc is exactly as I've described. Without having all your information I can't tell you your "optimum point" but you will have one, £379 pcm is a good place to start for nothing to be affected. £602 and you will still be significantly better off. But y' know don't believe a random off the internet. Try googling it, test it yourself like the benefits calculator. Might even turn out we were right about that too...

So, I'd be working double the hours, an extra 80hrs per month, for £410. My first 19hrs earn me £1361. The next 18.5 would earn me £410. It's not worth me doing that

So, the poverty trap the OP is talking about then?