DP lost her job

[Alysskea]

Just need to dump this somewhere as I feel like friends/family are sick of hearing from me.

DP has lost her job. I won’t go into the details but it was due to exceptionally poor management. She is not to blame.

We have a 2 year old, childcare fees and a mortgage. My income leaves us £1000 a month short assuming no non-essential spending, no new shoes for DD etc.

We have modest savings but by my account every day she is unemployed these go down by £30.

Yes she’s applying for jobs but there are no guarantees. What the fuck are we going to do if she can’t get one. What do people do??? Sell my house and move into one room at my mums on the other side of the country? Sell it and try to find a flat? Most cost more to rent than my mortgage.

I am trying to be a supportive partner and good parent but all I can think about is that the rug is just getting pulled from underneath me.

This is so shitty to say the least! I would get her to contact the union if there was one they may be able to help. Although it may be legal the union usual have things they can do! Some employers are POS!

To those who have said this was deliberate or a manipulation tactic - it wasn’t. Yes she’s a dickhead, but they do occasionally run into bad employment issues too. The employment was terminated after illness because they couldn’t be bothered to keep paying sick leave and knew they could get away with it. She is not lazy and has 3 job interviews lined up. Not saying it’s not a shit relationship, just setting the record straight.

Break it down together into parts:
Cost cutting - mortgage holiday, speak to the bank about any overdraft or credit card holidays or loans you need pausing, referral to food banks, cutting all unnecessary spending, saving wherever you can
Income generating - JSA or other benefits, selling anything you don't need/want that has value, even on vinted or ebay, short term ways to earn cash like bar jobs or supermarkets for casual shifts
Long term career/job hunting- signing up with recruitment agencies, linked in updating and hunting, reaching out to old jobs and colleagues, she needs to dedicate several hours a day to this and get some interview practice in
Long term - downsizing options, renting, upping your earnings, is her health a long term issue - what can be done to support this (hopefully you won't need the long term options but just in case, have a plan)
Not all these things will work/help/be appropriate but think of everything and then work out what is best value.
You need to be a team and approach it from all angles, you'll get there. Just make sure you get help for any big outgoings- most banks and companies will have help for short term financial issues, most local communities have ways to help (war on waste, food banks, baby banks - if you urgently need things for dd most local areas have options to help). It feels horrid but ask for the help and in the future you can repay it however you wish.

With xmas coming up, seasonal jobs eg hosptality/retail/ royal mail will be available.

What is childcare like in your area - I would lose the nursery place and then look for alternative nearer the time eg childminder when she has a job

Good luck

Apply for UC,you'll get a top up based on your family circumstances and incomes the link.https://www.universal-credit.service.gov.uk/start
It'll take a shot time to be processed and payments will about 5 weeks before you receive any money as payments are calculated on any earnings in the previous month.
Do this now as applications can't be back dated.

3 ways of approaching it.

1. Save the childcare money and your wife becomes a SAHM for a while. Poor choice in your situation

2. Save the childcare money and your wife gets part time minimum wage hours in a supermarket with shifts based around your working hours.

3. Keep up the childcare and get her to work full time hours at supermarket

Its not difficult to get hours at supermarkets and they pay £12-13 per hour which on a 40 hour week is about £27k per annum.

And what is more there is the capacity to study matters further, I was a Senior Carer with Controlled pharmaceutical responsibility. I was earning a good £17.50 an hour in 2017.
Good luck to your DP

Make sure she claims JSA too

They are not eligible for UC.

OP are you male or female?

Take child out of childcare if she’s home and can she get UC?

something similar happened to us in May, dp made redundant. To cut a long story short, I’ve borrowed from my dad and off my credit card to keep things going otherwise things go downhill very rapidly. We’ve got 2 preschoolers. Dp started earning a little bit of money doing self employed work. Luckily my work I can up my hours and earn more, but it’s been exceptionally tough.

How is this relevant?

I'm reading it as she's female. Although a pp just referred to OP as male 🤔

Off sick for a year? Why you needed childcare for the whole year if DP was at home? Why any of you thought about plan B during this year?

Sorry, not RTFT. But you can walk into Uber/Deliveroo delivery driver jobs basically same week. Amazon is also pretty quick. Not saying it's long term solution, but it would be enough whilst she's looking to maintain the £30 a day deficit.

I suggest she signs up to agencies supplying TA staff in schools. They will find her somewhere quickly

Not OP, but I read the situation differently. It was because she was employed less than a year, she wasn't entitled to the same employment rights. And so was dismissed much more easily after a shorter absence.

So sorry you are in this OP. I feel for all of you.
I would register with an agency and try to get as much as possible from those £1000. While applying for jobs similar or above the one she had. Or apply for something enough, but lower level if no interviews after a month or two.
If you have car loans, I would look into sorting that. Phone contracts, if you can get any lower.
But do not worry, in the meantime you are both healthy, all issues should get sorted.
Oh, I gorhot! Will Universal Credit help for a while till she finds a job?

I just read your updates. No UC, but claim the JSA, it helps a bit.

And, I am all pro judging posters by what they post ON THE THREAD, not their whole online life.
Best wishes OP. Try not to stress too much. Take it easy.

It's really tough when this happens - your mind goes to the worst possible scenarios, all the 'what ifs' and 'buts'. Easy for me to say 'Don't panic'. Assuming you're in the UK, speak to Citizens Advice, they can point you in the right direction for benefits and other support. You could also check with them as regards wrongful dismissal as I don't think you can fire someone for being ill, no matter how long they've been there. Have DP's former employers given any other reason for the dismissal?

But on your own post about how abusive she is… you do refer to how lazy she is

OP, she is a profoundly unpleasant person. That will likely seep in to her workplace interactions and behaviour

The deductions for this past month you mean? Is your wife expecting a payment or has she recently been paid? This would show as you don't meet the threshold for uc,but would you qualify when there is only one income showing on rti?

Not sure if this has been said as I’ve not read the posts. I worked for DWP, you can apply for contributions based job seekers - the name may have changed. It’s not much but would help a little. It is based on your NI contributions and not means tested. I can’t remember how many months you can have it for, maybe 6. Not back dated though so apply tonight.

I was trying to work it out from the language and how it sounded. It came across as a resentful male to me