To be shocked at how much we would get in tax credits if I did not work

[peppapighastakenovermylife]

I sense this thread might go wrong - I do not mean it to. I am not saying people should not receive the money, nor that they should be forced into work. I am just shocked at how much we would get!

Bit of background. My job is at risk so looking at worst case I wanted to see what we would be entitled to if I was made redundant. I expected it to be very very little.

I put our details into the tax credits website and based on me staying at home with the DC's and DH continuing to work full time we would get £600 a month . That is not considering any other benefits which we might be entitled to (DH earns around 18k)

Ok so that is not a huge amount of money to live on but after childcare costs that is more than I have left over after working full time in a well paid job!

I fully admit I enjoy my job and working. I also get more out of it than salary - pension, fulfillment, career advancement. Also, childcare costs are a relatively short term thing - in four years once all DC are in school they will come down considerably (they are very high at £1400 a month now).

I have no intention of leaving my job but it does make me wonder why I am missing my DC's, running round like a mad fool organising childcare and picks ups and am absolutely exhausted and dont have much time for myself when I am in the short term worse off financially.

It is nice to know there is the safety net though I guess although I now understand why some people make it a choice not to work (and I mean some not everyone who doesnt work, stays at home etc). I genuinely never expected it to be that much. I guess it will also be at risk with the current government.

I have read this thread and i still can't work out the way wtc and ctc is calculated or even vaguely understand it, as it makes no sense, it seems to change from person to person.

not sure if any of this is relevant but here goes anyway. i have 2 dc's, i am a sthm and my dp works fulltime on a lot less then what has been stated on her yet we seem to get a lot less in tax credits then others, we get child benefit (which everyone is entitled to :)) but apart from that there is nothing else, we pay the all the rent and council tax our selves, we also get no help to cover childcare so we can only afford to send 1 child to nursery and thats only parttime.

when i start uni in september, thankfully my dd will be starting school, so the money from grants and loans will cover the cost of childcare for my youngest as i have been told that just because you are entitled to some help towards childcare doesn't necessarily mean i will get it :(

ps just wanted to say i have a flat screen tv but we got it second hand at a bargain price :o

I just followed the instructions and that is the result it gave me for 24k annual income as a single parent

Do I qualify?

Based on the information you have entered, your household may be entitled to the following tax credits award:-

Child Tax Credit £395.02
Childcare element of Working Tax Credit £0.00
Sub total £395.02
Working Tax Credit (less the childcare element of Working Tax Credit) £0.00
Note: The childcare element of Working Tax Credit will always be paid direct to the person who is mainly responsible for caring for the child or children, alongside payments of Child Tax Credit.
Total £395.02
This is based on your household income of £24000.00.
This is the amount your household may be entitled to from 09/08/2010 until 05/04/2011. This result is only an estimate and is based on the information provided assuming you make the claim on 09/08/2010. This means the amount shown may not be your entitlement for the full year.

The amount may change when your claim is processed and in certain circumstances may be paid from an earlier date (up to a maximum of 3 months) where you (or your partner if it is a joint claim) satisfied the requirements for entitlement.
To make a claim:

You can order a claim pack by calling the help desk.

That was what I got though i inputted that she/the single parent, paid no childcare costs

i am fully aware that tax credits has nothing to do with housing, i was just stating my situation. as for the no help towards childcare i suppose i should have stated that i wasn't just a sahm i was also doing a fulltime access course at college and we didn't get any help towards childcare then, we would only get it if i worked as well, i suppose i thought it just seemed a little unfair that as much we were trying we just weren't entitled to much

Starwberrytot, I have been in the same situation for the last few years with respect to not receiving much help either. The student finance application process is horrendous aswell. It just made me angry because I a carer aswell and I felt if I got more qualifications i could work more flexibly than I do now, would be able to stop claiming carers allowance etc but it was disregarded because my dh earnt over the threshold (27k at the time if you are interested) We have really struggled for me to better myself and the stupid thing is, if sh and I split up I would be completely reliant on benefits and would cost the state a fortune.

that should be dh not sh

thanks movingbeds, im in the process of enjoying the student finance application process at the minute, if thats what you can call it, fingers crossed that after 4 years at uni we can finely relax (even if its just a little). im in the same situation as you as if my dp and i split i would also have to go on benefits its a scary prospect at times.

I don't know, it is more to do with the number of children you have and extra adults? I have inputted it again for single parent, one school age child, no childcare but earning 18k p/a and it came back with

Do I qualify?

Based on the information you have entered, your household may be entitled to the following tax credits award:-

Child Tax Credit £1874.40
Childcare element of Working Tax Credit £0.00
Sub total £1874.40
Working Tax Credit (less the childcare element of Working Tax Credit) £59.25
Note: The childcare element of Working Tax Credit will always be paid direct to the person who is mainly responsible for caring for the child or children, alongside payments of Child Tax Credit.
Total £1933.65
This is based on your household income of £18000.00.
This is the amount your household may be entitled to from 09/08/2010 until 05/04/2011. This result is only an estimate and is based on the information provided assuming you make the claim on 09/08/2010. This means the amount shown may not be your entitlement for the full year.

The amount may change when your claim is processed and in certain circumstances may be paid from an earlier date (up to a maximum of 3 months) where you (or your partner if it is a joint claim) satisfied the requirements for entitlement.
To make a claim:

You can order a claim pack by calling the help desk.

so no better off cutting hours/pay, no.

Did someone mention fags and booze mine all goes on a gigolo and my dd's have to live on beans on toast

What do you all spend your money on? Or shouldn#t I ask in case it is sensible things that the sensible spending police say is ok to buy on benifits

Oooh ivykaty - where do I get the gigolo from?

swallowedafly - don't worry, I recognise my DC's were my choice. Just to clarify I am not choosing to give up my job - I am at risk of redundancy and wanted to see what we would be entitled to in this worse case.

Since realising I am worse off financially by working I am a) shocked but b) still in my job - in fact sitting at my desk in work at 39.5 weeks pregnant

I have not said at any point that I am choosing not to work - it was simply a statement saying how shocked I was at how much we would be entitled to!

yes that sounds much more sensible swallowed - If I had another baby (no chance!) that is practically a salary.

And, thanks for clearing that up - I really didnt want to come across that I was considering it when I have a good job (although to be fair with 3 under 5's it is tempting!).

don't forget swallowedafly, if the OP has a child under 1 then you get a premium on top of the normal allowance.

I don't know what is right and wrong really. When I had my eldest dh and I were jointly earning less than 18k p/a but never had any top and coped. I do think it has made people more reliant on the system and companies do take advantage of thesetop ups by offering staff contracts at less than 16 hrs etc.

I thought it was £80 p/m

I think the key is that childcare isn't forever and also that there should be m,roe help for affordable chidlcare to be accessible.

if you knowck TC's etc indiscriminitley you amssively affect the people who haven't amde any choices about being unable to work, and also cause other probs- eg a lot of the otehr systems (income support, student finance) now use TCs to replace aspecvts of their provision

Prices won't go down eithrer if peoples income drops

But working should pay (and that includes part toime- far better long term forr poeople to work 16 hours as more likely to get back on ladder) and that could be most easily achieved via childcare provision