Universal Credits pushing

[Thills21]

My daughter is being pushed by universal credits to do more hours work.
They say unless she does 30 hours a week paid work she will lose her credits
and be contacted constantly. she is happy to work but cant get enough child care until September. Children are 6 and 3. and she currently works 13.5 hours a week. She has also been told that she should be looking for work up to 90 mins away which would mean she would be driving for 3 hours a day with no pay and cost of fuel and they also want her to do a training course which will mean a hotel overnight stay most of which will be at her cost and again need childcare and be away from her children. Its getting to the point of harassment from UC and stressing her out beyond believe surely this cant be fair.

Most people can work more than 13.5 hours a week with kids that age and much younger.
Whether it is fair or not probably depends on your opinion I guess.
I assume the father isn't in the picture? He would normally be the 1st stop with regards to childcare.

I thought they didn't expect single parents of children younger than school age to manage 30 hours a week?

Once they're at school, 30 hours is easily doable while they're at school, although you need to make use of after school club if you need to travel to work.

my mistake it should be 23.5 hours working, She wants to work more but no childcare places available now. She is separated but her ex works as well so cant rely on him for child care anyway

I was working 24 hours a week until my daughter turned 3 and was then told to increase to 30 which I have done. My daughter is in nursery during my working hours and I get 85% of this back with my UC. Initially it is hard but it is doable x

well thats what it used to be like but since April its all changed

No sympathy I'm afraid, we all have to work to support our families.

Yes it is do able as long as you can get the nursery places. In our area you have no chance

well that just shows you don't read the posts correctly and just like to comment
to hear ya own words lol

I was made aware I would have to work more hours a few months in advance of the change actually occurring and requested childcare to increase in advance. Could you daughter ask a local nursery/childminder when they will have the availability she requires to do the increased hours and then send this email to UC to prove she is willing to work but this is what is stopping her?

she has tried to get more child care but nothing until September and UC just wont except this. So frustrating

Can she speak with her work coach to voice her concerns?

I know my work coach is quite understanding that working 90mins away with children in school/after care isnt always doable - if my child gets sick etc I don't want to be 90 mins away. Also the travelling can make is difficult for collection times etc.

That is frustrating!! You would hope that they would realise that’s a real issue to her pursuing more work!

I wonder how many people in this situation are having to leave young kids at home alone and go to work because of this. I bet its happening

It is very difficult to find childcare at the drop of a hat. Round here you need to be booking a place before the baby has even arrived if you want full time or a choice of days at a nursery.

I'm not sure what to suggest. I agree with UC encouraging people to work as much as they reasonably can but it is complicated once you factor in the need for childcare.

Does your DD have any skills she could offer on a freelance basis? She could work ten hours a week after the DC are in bed. She'd need to register as self employed and keep a simple record of accounts and save a bit for tax but otherwise it's a simple way to bump up your earnings (and keep UC happy)

I know my work coach is quite understanding that working 90mins away with children in school/after care isnt always doable - if my child gets sick etc I don't want to be 90 mins away. Also the travelling can make is difficult for collection times etc.

It's what many people have to do though. When my children were 4 and 2 my commute to work was at least 90 minutes away (90 minutes if I didn't have to wait for a train, so it could be 20 minutes longer). My husband's commute was the same length.

Yes it made life difficult, but we coped. We had a childminder who collected the children from school/nursery and looked after them until I got home at 6pm.

I am happy for you.

Its not easy but easier when you're a team. Single parent is different.

I'm not saying it's not doable though but you have to remember there is childcare, after school clubs, potential sickness, errands, housework etc to be dealt with as well.

I'm with you on this one op. I think it's ridiculous. Your daughter is working, it's not like she's refusing to work at all.

May I ask how long she's been on UC before they started pushing her to work more?

Either fit in with the rules or if you don’t like them stop claiming

Some harsh responses on here, it sounds like she is trying her best but is unable to make those changes quickly. I wish they could show her some kindness and leniency as she is trying to do all she can, but it is a very harsh rigid system

And yes there absolutely will be more children being left at home or left with unsuitable care givers (such as older siblings who are still children themselves, abusive adults or those under the influence of alcohol/drugs). The philosophy seems to be to put increasing pressure on the most vulnerable in our society for minimal financial benefit to the tax payer in order to score political points.

able bodied woman has to support her own lifestyle choices, shocker

I think it's ridiculous to expect the single parent of a 3 year old to work 90 mins away. That could be arriving home 7.30 pm and having to go in the morning before any childcare is open. It makes me very angry.

If they are going to push this for single mothers then the fathers of these children (who likely work full time and don’t participate in childcare to do their part) should be made to pay child support it’s always the mother who loses out, they are left with the kids, all the childcare and having to juggle a job with school runs etc, childcare isn’t cheap and unless you have a very good job it’s really difficult!! Plenty of ‘able bodied’ women care for and support their own kids without the father’s help. It’s not a lifestyle choice to be a single parent - not for most at least!!

OP you've had some horrible responses on this post. Like it or not working that many hours as a single parent to Children of those ages is really hard especially if there's a lack of childcare provision.

It doesn't get any easier when they start school IMO because their day ends at 2.40 and you have to consider how to cover the holidays.

I'm sure your daughter didn't choose to be a single parent- that's not her fault. Also despite any shortcomings from the DC's father your daughter can't force him to do his bit- again not her fault.

It is incredibly hard. I don't have answers unfortunately but I wanted to post to say I feel her pain. Anyone who can't appreciate how hard this type of situation is isn't worth listening to. They are entitled to their opinion of course, but just let it go- they won't listen to any alternative POV and are entrenched in their views.

90 minutes away for a single parent of young children is just stupid. It may be doable and worthwhile on a good wage. But on a low wage you could be leaving your child from 7am until 7pm to earn less money a day than you did on fewer hours by the time you've factored in transport and extra childcare. Making life more difficult, working extra hours, commuting, putting your children in childcare for very long days all to tick a box but not actually earn any more money. Getting childcare until 6.30/7.00/7.30 is not easy outside of large cities either.
I'm sure people can imagine the added pointless difficulties but want your DD and others like her to have more difficult lives because they work full time so so should everybody else. Not considering that they get paid well for their long hours, have access to suitable childcare and have partners who help with pickups and housework and life.