Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Is this a no brainer?

40 replies

willywonkas · 31/01/2013 16:43

I've name changed as I know how sensative benefits threads end up on here.

Anyway my dh works and I am a sahm. We have 2 kids and live in London. My DH works very long days (normally 10-12 hours) including a long commute into work. My dh salary is about £32,800 after tax and national insuranse have been taken off. He has to pay for travel into London which costs over £1000 per year.He absolutely hates his job and is exhausted. The kids only really see him at weekends as he gets back from work really late and leaves really early. I feel like a single mum sometimes.

Anyway, I just took a look on the turn2us thingy and put in some different scenarios. According to the calculator, he could get a job for 24 hours per week at nmw of just above it and we would be no worse of him working much less and for less money because we would get more benefits.

The calculator says we would get this much;

Working + child tax credits of £7809
council tax benefit of £744
housing benefit of £9941
child benefit of £1752
total benefits of £20277

Add after tax salary on 24 hours at £9 per hour = £10231

Total of benefits and salary of £30508.

Considering he would be home much more I think this is a no brayiner although I am quite shocked how much benefits we would get.

Am I crazy to be really thinking about him doing this? It woudl be 100% better for our family and we wouldn't be worse off. I can't think of any negatives except if he can't find work but he could apply for jobs before quitting I suppose?

OP posts:
BettySwollocksandaCrustyRack · 31/01/2013 16:45

Oh dear!! This will not go well.

Good job not everybody has the same mind set.

magoosmom · 31/01/2013 16:47

Prepare to be flamed but I can see your point.

KenLeeeeeee · 31/01/2013 16:48

Just bear in mind that this will all change over the next couple of years when Universal Credit comes in.

Also benefit amounts go up and down as your children get older, and should you get to a point where you'd rather be earning your income, you may find it harder to get a well paid job because you've been out of the loop for so long.

What if you want to buy a house? You won't get a mortgage on benefits. Or if you rent and want to move, you'll more than likely need a guarantor if you can't cover all the rent from your earned income.

On paper it may look as though you're better off in the short term, but it really doesn't play out like that in real life.

grovel · 31/01/2013 16:49

What does your DH think?

LIZS · 31/01/2013 16:50

Don't you already get child benefit so that is above his salary. So you'd be 4k worse off immediately at best. NMW is far less than £9 net and there is no guarantee he'd get a job . You can't rely on the benefits calculator and changes happen in April.

wewereherefirst · 31/01/2013 16:53

You already get CHB, yes? That's nearly £2k more onto the salary and any CTC you may get.

LIZS · 31/01/2013 16:53

do you have savings as he can't claim JSA if he resigns so you'd need something to tide you over.

hellsbellsmelons · 31/01/2013 16:55

It will all change soon and you could be a lot worse off.
I'd check into it a lot more before you make any rash decisions.
Could you DH look for another FT job nearer to home anyway?
Is he already doing this?

threerings · 31/01/2013 16:57

some people get exhausted and hate their jobs, but we all have to work its called paying the bills and having Pride. There is no point in what you are saying I detest this mind set. Friend of mine takes that amount home in benefits and is always out shopping,decorating the home, going away on 4 nights stays at hotels.Orders clothes online and furniture,new carpets.
whilst I battle on with my small wage pay my bills and can hold my head high that I,m not a scrounger from taxpayers.
he pays £1000 for travel, I,m out of pocket by £130 a month in petrol through my job of milage allowence of 25p a mile, got to suck it up!!!
show your kids some morals and keep working.

WilsonFrickett · 31/01/2013 16:59

So you'd get more in benefits than I earned in total last year. You should definitely do it. And me. And everyone else. Everyone should just do it.

Except then there wouldn't be anyone paying in, but never mind that.

Also nmw is just under £7. And there aren't many pt jobs around. And I don't think you get anything for the first 6 months after you resign.

Bobbybird40 · 31/01/2013 17:01

It's called the rat race OP.

andubelievedthat · 31/01/2013 18:24

,based on your post content , and if you can/will take a chance on the future benifit variable(s) i "d do it for sure !honestly> esp. if he hates his job.and its not called "paying the bills and having pride" its called "maximising the potential", being sharp,looking out for your family and yourself,doing what you consider to be in your own best interest.who is more important ? you and family or mr/mrs joe public ?

ThingummyBob · 31/01/2013 18:38

I wouldn't guarantee that two (healthy) working age people will be supported with tax credits etc on only 24 hours pw between them for too much longer to be honest.
Its already recently changed so that lower earners have to do 24 hrs pw to qualify instead of the 16 it was previously and I don't think most people noticed/cared when the change came in.
Thats because its a reasonable change to make imo.

specialsubject · 31/01/2013 18:45

do you rent? Your landlord may not be able to continue to rent to you if you go on benefits, his insurance may not allow it.

and he has to know for your application.

if you have savings, that affects benefits.

er....why doesn't he look for another job? There ARE jobs. I entirely agree that he is missing out on life at the moment, but there are ways. Also look at your expenditure, see what you can cut back and then see where you stand. That could mean he can get a job that he enjoys but still pays enough.

or you move somewhere cheaper, or if the skills fit then you work, or you both work part-time to share the childcare.

thought: in Greece it has been considered rather silly to pay taxes, with lots of money under beds. Funnily enough, if no-one pays in, it all falls apart.

frustratedworkingmum · 31/01/2013 18:49

Your DH earns 38K after tax, has to pay 1K a year train fair (that seems quite low) and you are complaining?

My DP works his socks off for a LOT less than your DH, yeah we get about £300 a month tax credits but thats it, no housing benefit as we have a mortgage so unless you rent you wont get that, no council tax benefits as he earns too much (about 12k this year, ive just filed the tax return) So i really REALLY don't see how you think you would be better off with him taking a menial job for minimum wage?

Is it fun there in cloud cukoo land?

ThingummyBob · 31/01/2013 18:52

Having re-read your OP I now definitely think YABU.

Trust me, having a DP who earns in excess of £45k per year, even allowing for travel costs at £85 per month is NOT COMPARABLE AT ALL to being a single parent Shock

A single parent has to do all that you do, as well as earning enough to support themselves and usually the dc too.

You mention his salary as a net figure, why? Does he also have a pension contribution come out before you only get the over 2.5k per month into the household?

Also, isn't hb capped these days? Where are you that you would receive over 800 quid a month towards the cost of housing? I'm assuming the cb figure you mentioned is for two or maybe three children? So you can't need masses of bedrooms. Or have a missed something even on a second read of your postConfused

I'm pretty sure that no-one receives benefits equating to a £40k+ per year salary by doing 24 hours a week at NMW... whatever the daily mail would have us believe.

frustratedworkingmum · 31/01/2013 18:56

Oh and ive just taken on a part time job, that pays reasonably well per hour, but i have to work in excess of 40 hours a week just to keep up as I am new and need to prep lessons etc, I am exhausted and will not see a penny of my salary for luxuries, its been a bit of a culture shop, ive been moaning like hell to my DP and have been in tears over it, but you know what, ive had to be a grown up and get on with it as we just wont manage without my wage. It wont affect our tax credits this year, but after april it will and we wont get any - so do you suggest i give up work and just let my DP shoulder it all again?

frustratedworkingmum · 31/01/2013 18:58

culture shock - not shop! I try not to think about what i would earn per hour if i sat and worked out how many hours i work as minimum wage would seem like a distant dream!

Original poster
willywonkas · 31/01/2013 19:06

Yes I forgot about the child benefit which is an extra £1750 a yearish.

I know it seems crazy that we could get so much in benefits and a while back I would have been against it but now I am so resigned to the system that I kind of have a "if you cant beat them join them" attitude. My dh is so miserable in his job and he misses seeing the kids terribly. I don't see the point in him being a marter when we would legally be entitled to those benefits and he would be happier. Don't get angry with me, get angry with the system as that is what the welfare system says we would be entitled to in that scenario. Besides this is just a idea and I need to talk to him about it.

OP posts:
ThingummyBob · 31/01/2013 19:11

Really?? I think you've put the figures in wrong tbh.

How many dcs do you have?

Oh, and council tax benefit is being scrapped too soon . . .

MolehillAlchemy · 31/01/2013 19:16

Oh dear. The benefits system is there for people who 'need' it, not for people that 'want' it. If everyone thought like you OP, it would end, and there'd be nothing in the pot for the genuinely in need. Have a conscience.

mumstonic · 31/01/2013 19:19

You would not get the tax credits as the calculation is based in your previous years income and not your current income.

DP and I could not claim tax credits even though our income dropped to just £137 per week (my smp). Ironically in the new financial year we will be able to claim under the current system, even though our income will have risen to £45k as I'm now back at work. Total B*llox really.

Skinnywhippet · 31/01/2013 19:23

Madness. Why give up the security of a decent paid job to be reliant on the state which could be unpredictable. Also, it would surely affect your dp's self esteem to go into something which might require a lesser skill level. We all have days when things are hard, but your children won't be small forever and things will change. Be grateful that you have the choice to be sahm. In fact, be grateful that you have CHOICES at all.

frustratedworkingmum · 31/01/2013 19:24

If your DH is so miserable in his job, then maybe he should try and get a better one, or maybe if you want to fascilitate him being able to work closer to home and put in fewer hours YOU get a job and support him that way. Don't expect me to do it (you know, with MY taxes!) Angry

Original poster
willywonkas · 31/01/2013 19:27

Thingummybob - We have 2 kids. I used the turn2us calculator which may or may not be wrong.

My dh salary is £45000 which is just over £32800 after tax and Ni has come off. No pension. We have savings of about £2000.

We private rent. According to the turn2us calculator we would get £191 towards our weekly rent which is £9941 per year. The allowance for our area is £231 per week.

I just tried it again and got the same figures.

OP posts:
Swipe left for the next trending thread