WIBU for dh to take a big pay cut and for us to claim more tax credits?

[balenciaga]

I was going to nc for this as I think I'm gona be told we are being v v U. But fuck it am on my phone and can't nc on it and CBA to put laptop on to do it

Anyway. Dh has a new job. It's 32k, on that, we get 48 a week tcs with 3 dc (believe it or not that's ok money where we are)

However dh hates his new job, it's stupidly long hours and very stressful with no sign of letting up. I know it sounds pathetic but he has been in tears over it. we have a new (ish) born baby as well and he's never bloody here. And when he is, he is a tired mess and no good to any of us. He has a contact that has offered him a job working for him but it's only 20k

However it's a huge drop. And we initially thought he can't possibly take it as we would be skint. But then we did a calculation on hmrc site and worked out that if he took the new job we could claim higher tcs which would take us up to around a similar income, a bit less but not much

New job dh could do with his eyes closed and it's much less hours and easier work. So he will have a better work life balance and not be making himself Poorly with stress

But the idea of claiming more tcs doesn't sit right with me, and I also worry that soon they'll be put a stop to anyway

So I'm putting this to the mn jury...ps: fwiw I will be going back to work in a few months so we would not claim them long term

How would it save the public purse in this case?

It has been claimed he might go of sick with stress but that's not a given.

It would definitely cost the public purse in terms of the additional TC's and most likely in terms of the person who might currently be unemployed that now can't take the £20k job.

OP ignore the nasty posters.

They haven't been where you are.

I hear you about patents who just don't get how life in this economy is for our generation.

It is harder than it was for the baby boomers.

20k should be enough for a comfortable life.

It is not your fault that the elite have f ed up our economy so that so many of us are dependent on tax credits.

Claiming tax credits is nothing to be ashamed of.

If it was my DP I'd say quit.

the whole argument about freeing up the 32k job for someone else does not work.

neither course of action creates a job. there are two jobs and only two jobs. so either the OPs p takes the 32k one and someone else the 20k one or vice versa.

either way there is no more tax being paid and no fewer people out of work.

all the matters in fiscal terms is the benefits paid to those workers.

stress is part of life. taking exercise is an important way of coping. does the OP's p exercise? if not he should. it makes a big difference.

Op also remember that most of us are at our most skint and low ebb career wise when we have small dc. Don't feel like a failure, when your dc are all at school and if you invest in some training/skills building there's no reason to think that the situation you have now is as good as it gets. Yes, my PIL and parents have both made double at least what they invested in their houses whereas we, by our mid 30s, have only succeeding in losing about 60k due to having to sell at a time we couldn't choose.

For what it is worth, Tax Credits are actually part of the problem, not the solution. The Government 'topping up' people's incomes to some arbitrary level that it deems appropriate have depressed people's wages simply because employers know they do not have to pay competitive wages in the way that they used to.

Throw in the relatively cheaper labour from across the European Union and wages have been depressed even further.

To be clear, the OP is not morally abhorrent but the motivation behind the system that Labour created is. The Tories do not like people being poor but the Labour Party loves it, because they need their votes.

You should do what's best for you in your situation OP.

The whole TC system is unfair anyway. Unless you have children you qualify for next to nothing

"I have to say one thing I am surprised at are some posters suggesting 15 hour days, being harassed on your "day off" and a grown man crying is a normal part of a 30 odd k a year job?"

No this isn't normal or desirable, and this is exactly what your DH should be challenging/resisting. He needs to find an acceptable way to do it in his environment - if he's worked there for long enough he must be able to see a way to do this? How do other people manage? Or is he being picked on?

And I feel terribly sorry for you and the situation that you're in - does your DH really appreciate how bad you feel about all of this? I agree with PPs that you should see your doctor, as it sounds like you could be suffering from depression. It's an intolerable position to be in.

(Although I still don't agree that you should be taking the TC option - and for the record, I'm a Labour voter and have never claimed benefits!)

dawndonnaagain They are hand outs if you are choosing to take them instaed of supporting yourself when you are fullay able to and have the way of doing sodawndonnaagain

dawndonnaagain - in this case it is a handout - taking TC's through choice when you are able to earn enough not to is taking a hand out. I don't see how you can argue otherwise.

whoops - sorry I posted twice

BIWI - agree totally with your last post...

It sounds like you and your DH are both having a dreadful time. I think you should try to seperate the 2 issues of his job and tax credits.

Firstly, he is not happy in his job, it is exhausting him and meaning that he is not able to be as involved at home as much as you both would like. If there is no way to improve his working conditions then yes, he should think about moving to a different job if he can afford to do so.

There is no moral issue about accepting tax credits and there absolutely is nothing to be ashamed of in making use of the benefits to which you are entitled. The system is what it is and if it helps you and you qualify, then make use of it.

YABU. When I had small children I stayed at home during the day and worked evenings/Weekends when DH was home. Could you not do something similar? I was brought up to believe that benefits were for people in need, not for people to choose to work less hours.

State education and access to the NHS is not the same thing- my taxes have paid for my access to these things and the cost of the private alternative is prohibitive to me and most people.

Of course they are the same thing - TC's come out of tax and national insurance contributions just the same as the NHS and Education,the only difference is people don't get on the moral high ground when people use the NHS or choose state education.

Perhaps everyone should be made to work at least a 60 hour week just to enable them to afford private health insurance instead of "sponging of the state" - after all this is what some on this thread are expecting the OP's DH to do in respect of TC's

OP stuff those with the so called morals - No one thinks twice about taking from the system when it comes to other state funded services. Taking Your entitlement is no less moral than anyone else. You and your DH have paid into the public purse long before you claimed TC's and will continue to pay long after your Dc's have grown up.

surely this whole thread is theoretical?

TC are calculated using the previous years salary so would remain at £48 per week

. It's 32k, on that, we get 48 a week tcs with 3 dc

it would take 1 year before higher tc would apply. or not?

Not if you ring them and say you have had a massive drop in income and estimate earnings for this tax year, it will be adjusted.

*surely this whole thread is theoretical?

TC are calculated using the previous years salary so would remain at £48 per week

. It's 32k, on that, we get 48 a week tcs with 3 dc

it would take 1 year before higher tc would apply. or not?*

No if your income changes significantly you can request that you TC's are calculated on an "estimated income" and not the previous years.

fair enough - but I still don't think the numbers work.

take home pay from 32k is 25k
take home pay from 20k is 16k

I doubt tc will make up the 9k drop.

tc will provide approx 7k on a 20k income with 3 kids.

For a tenant it is a more complicated calculation involving HB.

And as OP has been saying all along it is only for a period of months until she returns to work so probably doable in a scrape by kind of way.

but the income will be counted as 22.5k not 20k

YABU. When I had small children I stayed at home during the day and worked evenings/Weekends when DH was home.

I do the same, big deal.

We still end up being eligible for some TC and we claim them.

Or do you think I should perhaps take on a night shift too instead of "choosing to work less hours?"

Who needs sleep after all!

Me and DP are under 25 and have no children so not eligible for tax credits. Or any benefits for that matter.

It's ridiculous that people make lifestyle choices like this based on how much extra benefit they'd get. I work 60 hour weeks, DP does too. DP has had a breakdown. We either struggle through or he gets a new job and deals with the lesser wage. That's how it should be. Not people making decisions based on how much extra money they can get from the government. Same as those who chose to have another child and say 'we can afford it because of CB'. The job is either too stressful or it isn't.

Obviously the money is always a benefit and people of course should claim them if they're entitled, but making decisions based on taking advantage of the system is wrong

You hardly the first person to do this. I would say 90% of everyone I meet in rl does this