in wondering why I bother working?????

[EarlyyearsChildcare]

Just met with mummy friends and was horrified to discover that one of the group is coming off benefits to return p/t to work and has calculated (with the help of job centre) that working 18 hrs a week on £6 ph she will have £900 disposable income per month.
This is because of WT credits and Ch support of £98 per week.
She has 3 kids and is single.
Now, I am not anti benefits or working tax credit or single mothers, but can this surely be right?
My dh and I flog ourselves full time me working at night, him at day and we are drowning in a sea of debt and we are on a better salary than £6 ph.
Is it being single? or a mis-calculation? I cannot believe that it can possibly be right, it would mean including her bills that her income would be comparable to about £34k+

Can I go to a night class in how to claim benefits because I am fed up with working and having to write the children IOU's for their birthdays and wearing shoes with holes in.

Sorry to vent my frustration here but the cat ran off when I tried to discuss it with her.

Take the £400 out of the equation, because that is the father's contribution to raising his children, not her money.

£500 a month isn't that much, by the time you've eaten and drunk and paid your transport costs.

We need the Tax Credit system to prop up the low wage/high cost of living system that we have.

Toni, why assume she is in rented?

So OP do you not have £62 a week disposable income?

I'm sorry you and your husband are struggling at the moment.

That has nothing to do with your friend.

It's being a single mother that makes a big difference to your working tax credits I think. As far as I can see, if you are a single parent then you need to be earning well over £20k per annum from your job in order to take home even marginally more income than someone who is earning the minimum wage and only working 18 hours a week.

If I split up with dp I could reduce my working hours and take a job on much lower pay with less responsibility yet be no worse off.

However, as part of a couple, it does make a big difference to our take home income whether I earn £6k or £20k.

I assume she is in rented because the op said shes only just started working since being unemployed. I assume she wasn't paying a mortgage while jobless. Op will hopefully enlighten us

She owns her own home, not rented.
She's a lovely person, it's not her fault it is the system. I never thought I would say things like this.

toni- i thought perhaps the mortgage was paid, because the 'friend' may not have been jobless, she might have been a SAHM whilst her DH worked, which he must to give that amount of maintainance.

What has she done 'wrong', she produced her DC's whilst in a relationship with a man now willing to pay for his DC's and is now getting a job because she is a LP.

How old are her dc? does she have childcare to pay for which is easily 450+ leaving 100 a week to live on. dont see what the problem is...

What do you think is reasonable ?

Benefits will pay interest on a mortgage

There are unemployed 'homeowners'..... Plenty of them!

Op - I can understand your frustrations but I think you need to focus on the fact that things are changing. The govt is very aware of threads like this! And the fact that couples have been seriously disadvantaged financially, and that its possible to play the system and only work p/t yet receive the same as a f/t wage. Things have started to move forward and I think it's the tip of the iceberg. Ask yourself: would you really feel secure relying on benefits? Would you want your children to be relying on them? I think things will shift so that working pays better in real terms than not working, and working f/t pays better than p/t. The current system is not sustainable. Long term you're better off'.

You misunderstand, the £900 is not childcare, not food, not mortgage etc etc it was worked out by the job centre advisor.
I am not critical of the lady- my original post was saying 'can this be right'? I am not bashing single mums, I have been one, nor benefits nor working tax credits. I just cannot believe that this amount of disposable income is possible.
She has two older ch no ch care and 1 in ch care.

If that is the case then she is a 'one off' and not the norm.

The system isn't at fault most LP's live just above the breadline. All of this will end shortly if her DC's are teenagers, then she will face tough times. Whereas it will get better for you and your DP.

What shmoz says about current eyar earnings and WtC but you ahve to be scrupulous as it is so easy to be over paid.

For our family, working pays hugely. I am a carer which right now is non negotiable, DH was amde redundant. Had we claimed benefits life would have been ridiculously ahrd, however he started his own business part time and it has been worth it all the way- financially, morale, long term (hoping to go FT next eyar- is at college as well right now).

Personally, I think Toni is right as well: I can;t wait to not need any help (barring the boy's disability which obv woudl erefer not to need anyway)- a secure home, no fear of changes or over payment- bliss!

Universal Credit has up sides and down: absolutely it shopuld pay to work (personally I count being a carer within that). It's a nightamre for people on 0 hour contracts as well now when they are trying hard to work, my friend keeps having to make new claims and taking 3 months to process on slow weeks- silly. But the 16 hour minimum is being dropped for couples and changing to 24: now for couples I don't have an issue as such, 12 jpurs each or 24 hours, and 16 for single parents; but they forgot carers and there's no guarantee that the partner of a carer can just up his hours by 8 to meet changes in rules, and whilst if that happened in non caring couple one would have to attend work-to-benefit stuff, if a caring family ahs that- well who goes? Does one aprtner abandon the person needing care, or does other take a few weeks off or pack in his work?

I get the policy but stuff needs ironing out.

WTC and CTC

• attract no pension benefits
• are going to be subject to further cuts
• are calculated using a highly complex set of calculations and recipients are often overpaid or underpaid resulting in fluctuations in income
• the figure may well include the childcare element which has to be, umm, used for registered childcare or will have to be paid back.

Maintenance is not a guaranteed form of income either. X paid reasonably generous maintenance but he has been made redundant so will now be paying £20 per month. He's in his 50s so not much chance of finding anything else in this climate though he is applying for loads of jobs.

I think your friend was a little unwise to discuss her finances so freely and I think she has got her sums wrong. I have 2 children so by rights I would have £600pcm disposable income ..... err, I really don't

But, this isn't about your friend, is it? It's about your finances. I'm not sure what you mean by "drowning in debt" after three months unemployment and if you are now working again. If I had lost my job and couldn't claim JSA, I wouldn't run up thousands in debt. Did you already have outstanding debts? Mortgage lenders will negotiate interest-only payments or payment holidays. Perhaps, CAB, if you haven't already been there, could advise.

Nothing about LP finances is easy. Childcare is a nightmare when they want you to work early/late, cover for others, work on a day when you have no childcare (I have been asked 6 times to work on a Sunday), especially if you don't have family nearby. Part time work is crappily paid in the main and the promotion prospects are rubbish. I am filled with dread if one of the DCs/CMs gets sick and I have to beg an extra day off from work to cover. There's no partner to share the load of extra time off. And don't get me started on trying to cover the summer holidays! Next year's bill would be £400 per week!

I'm sorry you have had a bad time with your finances but wishing worse on your friend who already has a tough time is not nice frankly.

Bloody hell - I only came on here because the goats were back. And now look, not a ruminant to be seen. Bet niceguy scared them off.

All bills, childcare and mortage paid with 900 left over? in that case i'm doing something wrong! Tho is more than likely a error and will not be paid when she actually claims.