Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To feel penalised for being a single parent.

117 replies

trappedinsuburbia · 20/03/2014 11:26

Ok, I am single and have 2 dc, I am currently on maternity leave and am taking the additional 3 months unpaid and I have claimed income support for 1 month to cover this period. I am going back to work in less than 2 weeks to will have claimed for 6 weeks altogether.

So far whilst being on maternity leave I have had tax credits request all bank statements, wage slips etc, no probs off they went, all fine.

When I first claimed income support, before I even knew if it had been awarded or not, I had a home visit from someone from benefits, again all fine, I could only show what bank statements etc I had as the others were with the people at income support, the person visiting confirmed that I was to receive income support.

Comes in yesterday and there is a letter waiting for me telling me to attend an interview at the jobcentre to check my entitlement to benefits and to bring these magical fucking bank statements.

AIBU to be getting a little tired of this and think its getting a bit intrusive. Is this normal!!

Of course i'll go and produce said bank statements from months before I even claimed so they can see i've spirited my millions away into an off shore account !!

OP posts:
Original poster
trappedinsuburbia · 20/03/2014 17:05

Well thanks to those who have answered my question.
To the rest, well my circumstances aren't your business and the reason im taking extra time off isn't your business either.
I thought benefits were a safety net for times of need, paid for by taxes, which I have paid for 20 years, so whoever said it was free money I have to disagree.

OP posts:
pianodoodle · 20/03/2014 17:07

But she hasn't alluded to anything other than her not wanting to return atm.

She hasn't made any mention of her reasons and nor should she have to when it isn't anything to do with what she was asking originally.

The fact is she's making a claim. She asked whether the amount of rigmarole you have to go through is normal and whether being a single parent had anything to do with it.

Doesn't stop people taking the opportunity to give their own unhelpful opinions about whether she should or shouldn't be allowed benefits, oh, and of course highlight how much better they are...

pianodoodle · 20/03/2014 17:09

X post with OP.

Original poster
trappedinsuburbia · 20/03/2014 17:12

Thanks piano, I should have known better than to post here!!

OP posts:
Gen35 · 20/03/2014 17:17

Personally I'm glad you can claim income support and take the extra ML, I imagine that the income support is less generous than your wages so you're giving up money to be with your baby longer. Good for you! I'm very glad I've never had to deal with a benefits office, they sound dreadful.

Treats · 20/03/2014 17:17

I think the point the OP is making is that she doesn't have a partner to provide an income so - to have any income at all during the unpaid portion of mat leave - she has to claim income support. She wouldn't have to do that if she was in a relationship with a wage earner.

I don't think she's saying that the process of claiming benefits is different because she's single - just the fact that she has to.

To those who say she should just go back to work - presumably, as a sensible, functioning grown up, the OP has weighed up all the options and made a decision about what's best for herself and her family at this time.

Congratulations on your new baby OP.

EEatingSoupForLunch · 20/03/2014 17:22

Wow the AIBU tossers are out in force! Of course OP can claim benefits for her maternity leave, and guess what, she isn't obliged to go into a workhouse either.

OP why Income Support and not Maternity Allowance? The amount isn't much different but I got MA without all the hoop jumping, and no visits at all.

CalamitouslyWrong · 20/03/2014 17:25

They make it so intrusive and difficult to claim to put people off. They're hoping you'll say, 'it's only 6 weeks; it's just not the worth the effort' and not claim at all/drop it before it's processed.

Misspixietrix · 20/03/2014 17:26

What Cbeebies Said. Annoyingly intrusive but also normal practice.

daisy0chain · 20/03/2014 17:28

She can't get MA for the optional unpaid leave part of her ML.

NurseyWursey · 20/03/2014 17:33

Of course OP can claim benefits for her maternity leave

Well yes of course she can, but just because it's legal doesn't mean it's right.

Obviously it's lovely for women to be able to take advantage of this and have some extra time with baby, but I'm not sure the state should pick up the costs. People usually save extra money to enable them to have this extra time off.

Babyroobs · 20/03/2014 17:38

They are just really clamping down on possible fraudulent claims at the moment, so I wouldn't take it personally. A new baby means they will suspect you could be in a relationship and not single so they are just checking your claim is legitimate.

elliejjtiny · 20/03/2014 17:42

Normal I'm afraid. We had this and more with housing benefit and we were only entitled to £5 a week

SoonToBeSix · 20/03/2014 17:47

You can claim income support if you take unpaid parental leave, this applies to men and women . You have to have been entitled to certain in work benefits to claim such as housing benefit but there are several other qualifying benefits.

MoominsYonisAreScary · 20/03/2014 18:09

Ive been a single parent, not with a very young baby though. I can imagen its incredably hard work, doing the majority if not all of it on your own and working. Maybe not getting much sleep either.

The op is taking an extra 6 weeks ffs, its not a lot in the grand scheme of things. Then she is back to work, paying taxes etc

People would really begrudge i single working mother 6 extra weeks off with her baby and a bit of income support?

As for saving up, noone knows the ops cercumstances, why she might need the extra time, if the baby was planned, if the op earns enough to save any money.

6 weeks people! Some people dont bother working for years, if at all

handcream · 20/03/2014 18:15

Are you asking that you be made an exception because YOU are a single parent? Where is the father in all of this?

Just because you are a single parent doesnt mean the rules dont apply to you. I agree with others, if you want to claim benefits then you need to be prepared to be asked for statements time and time again.

gordyslovesheep · 20/03/2014 18:22

I am very suprised you CAN claim IS ...my husband left while I was on unpaid ML an all I could 'get' was ctc,wtc and cb

gordyslovesheep · 20/03/2014 18:24

oh and YES I had to provide evidence ...everyone claiming does regardless of status

I went back to work earlier than planned

Misspixietrix · 20/03/2014 18:55

Both

Misspixietrix · 20/03/2014 18:56

They were doing spot checks just before Christmas around here. It literally is just to keep the fraud rate Down and to prevent I'D theft etc.

Ticklishy · 20/03/2014 19:28

I think you are right in thinking it is odd. Whilst housing benefit and Income Support ask for proof of all income and statements, I have never heard of tax credits doing so, particularly as they pay in advance then adjust when you get to the end of the year. I also think it is fairly rare to get a visit at home. If it was me, I would think I had been reported!

aermingers · 20/03/2014 19:36

Go to the bank, ask them to print you out a copy and stamp it with their bank stamp.

They will do it for free. You can get as many bank statements as you want this way.

It is frustrating for people in couples to hear someone complain they are discriminated against because they're asked to produce entitlement to something people in a couple are not allowed to get!

I feel discriminated against that the state will pay for single women to stay at home until their child is at school when I've been forced back to work to make ends meet just because I have a partner.

We all have our crosses to bear and visiting a bank to ask for another copy of your bank statement is not the worst thing ever to happen.

daisy0chain · 20/03/2014 20:36

I feel discriminated against that the state will pay for single women to stay at home until their child is at school when I've been forced back to work to make ends meet just because I have a partner.

Nope, nothing to do with you having a partner, it is to do with your partner meeting the minimum wage criteria for you to be eligible for any benefits. Don't be so naive. Living on benefits isn't a walk in the park, a few people I know have found themselves having to for a period of time due to redundancy and I know how much they have struggled to make ends meet.

I am a single parent and I do work but in the case of redundancy I have nothing and nobody but to fall back on apart from the government. It isn't a life style that anyone with any sense would actually choose for themselves and their kids.

KirstiesHomeMadeCrap · 20/03/2014 20:40

What's with all these !!!!!! ?

Misspixietrix · 20/03/2014 20:43

I just thought. You know the Tax Credits wanting proof Thing would it not have something to do with the change in entitlement to child benefit? Checking you was still within the limit?

Swipe left for the next trending thread