Living on benefits

[Worriednanof1]

Are there any single mums on here who live successfully on benefits alone? My pregnant daughter who has already got a 2 year old has suddenly found herself alone and much as we would, of course, take her in, it wouldn't be ideal. Would she be entitled to enough to support herself in a house/flat of her own?

She's due to give birth too soon to be job hunting right now. Even if she wanted no nobody would employ her so heavily pregnant.

Actually you aren't obligated to work if you have children under 3.

https://www.entitledto.co.uk/

Use this site, it's always been really accurate for me.

This is what I wish I'd been told when my DC father fucked off -

Don't rely on father paying maintenance, even if you go through a CMS claim, he may leave his job, never include it in her budget.

I used to work NMW (44 hours PW) and my tax credits, which I believe are gone or going now, they were a huge help for childcare fees.
I also rented a house with another single parent which helped us both massively.
However with benefit of hindsight, I'd definitely recommend working less hours and getting all the top ups she can, because I had this view I was letting my DC down by not working constantly to provide, I missed out on a lot.
She can smash the hours in when her DC is older.

If she budgets, pays any debt and doesn't get new ones, makes plans to better herself through education or learning to drive if she doesn't already, it'll help her when she is ready to find a career if she's able too.

My tips would be second hand clothes for children, using social supermarkets for low income people, frozen foods and bulking out meals with beans and lentils. Learning to cook will help her not want to live off of takeaway
Look for days out on Groupon and make packed lunches wherever you can.

Children's activities don't need to be really pricey, urban farms, beaches, woods, playgrounds etc are absolutely fine. Playdates, making crispy cakes and arts and crafts with stuff from b&m is ideal.
Fb marketplace and charity shops for toys.

Don't waste her money on unnecessary shit such as a million sprays to clean the house, bleach, washing up liquid, polish and a multisurface cleaner are sufficient.
There's so many traps for your cash now, say you go to home bargain for "a few bits" you end up with 20 things that do one job, I get it, we all do it, but especially if she's not working she'll have to be absolutely cut throat about what spending habits and traps she falls into.

I drill this into my kids, plan, prep, budget.

They ignore me but hey ho, I've tried!

Thank you so much, i really appreciate your reply.

The country is in a really precarious position right now and even people working full time are in debt and struggling to keep up with demand.

Unless your daughter has had her head in the sand she will be aware of how people are struggling and probably with a two year old and no job is already struggling herself.

Universal credit covers quite a big proportion of childcare and has done for quite a while so that's an option

If her local council and housing allowance is already being allocated to her rent then she would have to cover what's left but each area has different allowances.

She hadn't actually been struggling yet as her partner earns enough to cover all the bills but he's done a runner and she has no money other than her child benefit coming in.

It worked for me for the time I was on it. It paid 85% childcare so I was able to get a part time job and earn at the extra I needed to pay all my bills.

OP has said her dd is pregnant, she is not going to be able to work for a bit while she has a newborn.

She needs to put in a formal claim through CMS. It’s not a choice to pay child maintenance, the father needs to support his children. I’ve been a single parent to two since my children were tiny (youngest less than a year) and worked full time from the . It’s a lot of juggling and pretty relentless but I bought the kids into the world and it’s my (with estranged fathers) responsibility to keep them

I am a single mum, I work part time and claim UC. I was in private rental when I became pregnant and was offered social housing when my baby was 1 year old. I manage fine, my child has everything she needs, we eat well and can afford to go to softplay, swimming etc. I can’t afford to save, go on holiday or spend money on my self but it is doable.

Ah sorry I missed the pregnant bit. That's a shame. Realistically housing likely to be in hostel or similar if she can't keep up with her private rental.

Looks like i should resign myself to them all being squashed in here with us then.

mycoffeecup Not everyone has a career, some Mums stay at home and raise their children and some have a job, you know those minions that scan your shopping, serve your coffee or sweep the pavement you walk on.

Universal Credit without any income from employment would be tough. I know of two single mothers in the last year, and the UC doesn't cover their rent (400 short) and one of them got into serious debt. Utilities and food being the biggest challenges. One had used a food bank and applied to utility debt charities for help.

A family of four were managing on £700 after rent paid; for bills, travel and groceries. I don't know how people manage.

I don't know if there's extra help until she can find employment.

I think coffee cup was only stating the fact that, sooner or later, she will be expected to work. I don’t know what the age requirements are though.

Work is the only way you can help yourself, even part time from home at the moment if she could manage. UC isn’t enough to live on alone. And I think at some point she would be called in to the job centre which by all accounts sounds like an unpleasant experience.

OP she needs to make a claim for universal credit online asap as it can time to sort out.

She’ll most likely then have to have a meeting with them.

It may have changed but it used to be when your child is 3 you need to look for a job.
So she probably won’t need to look for a job until her second is 3.

Benefits for single parents aren’t a lot, especially if she’s used to 2 incomes but it’s better than nothing.

Universal credit has housing benefit built in (it used to be all separate like housing benefit, tax credits etc but it’s now just 1 to try and make it easier).
But this housing benefit part may not be enough to pay the full amount of rent each month.

She won’t know until she’s applied for universal credit and they’ve given her a breakdown on what she can get.

If it doesn’t cover the rent then she can apply for a discretionary housing payment from the council and ask if they’ll cover the shortfall, although this can take a while and they can say no.

If the benefits don’t cover the rent then she’ll need to get onto the council and apply for housing.

Get your DD to apply for UC. She can ask for an advance payment. If she's struggling to pay debt, tell her to set up a payment plan with stepchange for monthly payments.
Get her to seek advice from citizens advice if she's not sure on what she's entitled to.

Universal credit is calculated from the day you first claim . She must put a claim in online today to make sure she wont lose out.
Once the claim is up and running she can request an advance which is repayable over a given period. I would wait until the rent is verified before requesting the advance though . Its okay but you do need to calculate the advance repayments when working out a very tight budget.

She needs to put in a claim with CMS, he could be self employed and hide assets, get paid dividends, give up work or move overseas so it may not be reliable. But she needs to apply.

@Worriednanof1

There is a website called entitled to.

If your daughter enters all of her details into there it will tell her what she can claim to help with rent and living.

It is no longer an option to live off benefits. Once a child turns 2 then the parent is expected to make preparations to start looking for work. On universal credit you are much better off working. She should also claim child maintenance from the dad.

Sorry just re-read and seen she is pregnant again so my previous advice won't apply for another 2 years.

Future wise, if she's receiving universal credit, she'll be able to send her children to nursery free of charge from 2 years old.

Right now, she clearly isn't in a great position to start working, so she'll likely be house soon, although it could be emergency accommodation until a council house becomes available.

Why won't the ex contribute? Will he want any custody? Was he supporting her? Do they have savings?

Would she be entitled to enough to support herself in a house/flat of her own?

Only if she works and uses the funded childcare. What about a hostel?

They move somewhere cheaper, claim child maintenance, apply for social housing or they can apply for discretionary housing payment from their local council to help with the shortfall although this is just a temporary measure. Most people just have to make up the difference between the UC rent element and their actual rent from the rest of their benefits.