Apprenticeship as a single parent?

[BesselVanDerKolk]

Reposting here for traffic

Has anyone undertaken an apprenticeship as a single parent? I'm 32 and would like to retrain in something which will enable career progression/earning potential. I'm finding there is next to no information on doing an apprenticeship as a lone parent, the low starting wage and how this would impact benefits/whether there is any entitlement to childcare costs. Anyone out there have any real life experience of doing this?

I don’t but Gingerbread can help you understand it. They’ve done a lot of work on this topic. There’s a policy document here but the helpline is the place to go for how it interacts with benefits. It can be hard to get through but they are very knowledgeable.

We offer apprenticeships at work. Basically they are working 4 days- standard hours and one day for study, at work. So I would just consider it a 9-5 job with training?

Sorry posted too soon. The wages are the living wage but obviously training all paid for in on top.

Thank you @Binterested. I remember coming across that the last time I looked into apprenticeships. I will definitely give them a call and try and get some solid info re benefits.

@fiorentina that sounds great! I can't see anything paying that in my area - they are the standard apprentice wage (at least for the first year, then it goes up to nmw for over 25s). I'm wondering how that works as a single parent when you are paying the costs of raising a child and childcare costs in order to do the apprenticeship. I'm wondering if tax credits, for example, take into account the hours that you work or the wage you are actually paid when figuring out the amount you are entitled to. I've read somewhere that you are not see as being in "remunerative employment" if the hours you work mean that you are earning below minimum wage!

The document that @Binterested linked to has a bit in it that says basically some single parents are essentially out of pocket doing the apprenticeship by the time they have paid travel and childcare fees. It seems such a shame as it can be a great route to retraining, boosting earning potential and securing employment.

Just a small hopeful bump for real life experiences

Have you seen this? benefits-calculator.turn2us.org.uk/AboutYou maybe it will help calculate what you may be entitled to still?