to think a 40K salary is not enough???

[slippytoes]

I've been offered a permanent full time job earning 40K, which at first sight looks great but....

I just realised this will stop all child tax credits!!! Then we wont have nearly enough to rent a 1 bed (let alone a 2 bed flat) in our current area.

We live in zone 2 (very expensive!) and moving is not an option since DD goes to school in the area and is well settled in... I dont want her to lose her friends and change schools!

Also, because the new job is full time I will need childcare, which also means extra costs! I was thinking of getting an au pair but we just cant afford it!

I am a single parent. I really want this job, it's a great opportunity. 40K is a decent salary!!! AIBU? How do people make it in London? Should I ask my new employer to pay me less? And how can I make this work? :(

You make it work by not living in London. You'll get a lower salary but housing and commuting will probably be much easier.

Sorry if that's not the most helpful answer....

Really I would consider moving. Unless your DD is in middle of exams, but I assume she is at Primary. She will be happy somewhere else and they all move for secondary school. Also you say Zone 2. How feasible is it to commute from Zone 3? Some parents come in by train at our school having had to move further away.

Child care - are breakfast and after school clubs an option?

will you not get help with childcare and maybe some housing benefit?

If its a good job you should try and make it work even if its really tight for a few years. Childcare costs won't last for ever. How about asking the employer to pay you more not less? Tell them you need the salary to be 42k or whatever would make up the loss of tax credits.

I think you need to add up all your costs associated with working full time, see where that leaves you, and if it's not viable to live on that salary, maybe broach the subject of part time instead with the company. If I worked full time, and didn't pay into my company pension, I'd not be far off your £40k, but as I work 25 hrs a week, I still get childcare help.

Do the sums 1st before you say no, and even then, I'd still ask about the possibility of part time before I'd turn it down.

And wouldn't you get working family tax credits?

If your childcare is registered then depending on salary you can get help towards childcare costs. Dunno how much. Can you go on the .gov website to see what you'd get?

Check everything really carefully before you decide, as Tension says. Also look at what school-based care is available, it's not usually that expensive. Could you work from home some days (obviously not right away, but in the future?).

If the sums don't add up I really would consider moving. I know it wouldn't exactly be great for DD but she'd get over it and longer-term it will be better for you and her.

I'd be very surprised of there wasn't a neighbouring borough slightly cheaper. If look into that before panicking

no freudianslipper, absolutely no help for all I know. Still have to double check is there are any tax breaks for single parents but am afraid not.

Not living in London... whatsthatcoming ha! It seems the wisest thing to do. But this is an exciting role in marketing for a multinational brand, and I doubt I'd find something like this outside of London.

OK and if I decided to move to zones 3-4, it would have to be in a months time... how does it work in the middle of the year? will I get a place in the school I want (looking at state schools obv) if I move close to it?

YANBU - I had the chance of a 2-year secondment which would have more than doubled my salary (and because EU funded, would have been tax-free) - but it would have involved a move to the SE of England, and housing costs, childcare (would have needed an au-pair) together with the difficulty of finding a decent school meant I passed up the opportunity. (I am also a single parent). What really swung it for me is that the job probably wouldn't have been as interesting as my current job.

In your circs though, if full time job is likely to be really interesting and fulfilling, depending on the age of your child I'd think seriously about a move out to commutable distance, to somewhere with good schools. (I realise it's not that simple - back when I worked in London, choice of zone was pretty much a zero-sum game, in that what you saved in rent, you paid back again in season-ticket costs for commuting).

But think of it in terms of the long game - what does the short-term hit in terms of costs, lifestyle etc. bring in terms of job satisfaction, career prospects (and pension at the end of it... a lot of women face an impoverished old age due to part-time working).

bebop no I live in NW London. Only thing cheaper is Kilburn and even that is too far and too expensive :(

You can get childcare vouchers, which is a tax break of sorts.

the new job is close to southwark so good train links with all the SE...

you are choosing to live in one of the most expensive areas in the country. Therein lies the problem.

Can you move further up the Jubilee line?

Try this to work out what help you would get as you reduce the hours. Look into breakfast club/after school care, childminder, au pair etc. in your area to get an idea of the cost. If wrap around care such as breakfast club/after school care means you can work maybe 90% or 85% of the hours offered, then present that to the company with the explanation as to why and see what they say. Childcare vouchers too, I forgot about those as I don't use them.

Just establish the basic facts on the costs/timing to & from work and see how that works out. Then speak to the company and see what they say.

well OK but then these job opportunities would not be available in 'cheaper' parts of the country....
OP try to make it work, these problems with childcare pass quicker than you can imagine.

end of the Jubilee line might work, or perhaps somewhere like Borehamwood?

Freudian, once you go over the 40% tax threshold which is £34,370 you don't get any help at all! You will still get single person discount on your council tax but that is it.

The childcare vouchers for higher tax rate payers equals £28/week voucher, max annual gain £630. Not really that much.

slippytoes you need to do your sums very carefully. It may be that you are better off staying part-time for now, if you can't move to a more affordable area.

the other small issue is that I havent told my prospective employer I have a little me at home. I went to the interviews and didn't mention it, because I've had bad experiences in the past. So when they made me the offer and didnt mention anything about childcare vouchers... should I tell them? do I have to? Ahhhrg

arrghh indeed it is a bloody minefield. Do NOT ask about childcare vouchers!! (bitter experience)

there are not interesting part time jobs in my field unfortunately. I've been looking for the last year and all that comes up is unspecialised, badly paid and precarious. This job is a great opportunity... or I'm feeling it would be, (for someone without children) :(

move, we had to. £40k is not enough for Zone 2, as you're finding. If you can't afford to live there, you are going to have to move, DD in school or not.

at least I got you MNetters who understand me and feel my pain! My ex thinks it's really well paid and can't see the reason why I complain.