Lone parents with babies of a few MONTHS old being threatened with sanctions...

[MrsNextDoor]

here on the Gingerbread site

Bloody bastards!!!

One lone parent was told that she was being sanctioned because she'd turned down a nightshift job on account of not being able to find overnight childcare.

Others with children of 3 or 4 months old were being told they had to find work immediately or lose their benefits.

What the actual!??? In many cases, job advisers are giving their clients the wrong information....seemingly deliberately...telling them the law has changed and they must get work now....the most vulnerable people...lone parents with infants...being bullied. AIBU to think this should be stopped immediately!?

I agree. I favour a citizen's income approach where everyone gets a certain amount of money and then when you work you get extra. That way there is never a disincentive to work and you are always better off working.
I think with young kids you have to think long term. Yes in the short term childcare is expensive but they need less childcare as they get older and your income should go up by moving on to a higher salary in your job as you get more experienced. Plus you have the pension benefits.

Yes, say £10k a year citizen's income whether you work or not and no matter how many children you have (and no other benefits of any kind) so a couple has £20k to cover their rent, food etc if they both choose not to work. Mind you that is more than the £8k state pension per person is so perhaps it would be too high to be affordable. It would certainly please stay at home mothers. I like universal payments. It could be a £10k a year benefits cap too per adult.

There's no evidence that UC will address this. In fact, research has been done that shows it might actually be beneficial for people in certain circumstances to work less hours than they do now. The Tories don't have the answer to everything

Do you mean there are a couple of loopholes in UC that would mean in a set of circumstances people would be better off working fewer hours?
It's a new system: maybe those things will be wrinkled out.

GlitterTwinkleToes, working couples can, and do, get housing benefit if their income is low enough.

The examples I gave were for 2 children - £20.70 (1st child) plus £13.70 (2nd child) x 52 weeks = £1788.80.

Do you mean there are a couple of loopholes in UC that would mean in a set of circumstances people would be better off working fewer hours?
It's a new system: maybe those things will be wrinkled out.

Apologies Elizabeth

Never heard of housing benefit being issued, speaking as me and DH are both have NMW jobs and have top ups of tax credits always thought we weren't entitled to any help in that aspect

If you rent then it's worth looking into Glitter.

Noeuf - I've read a few reports on it, this article also discusses it - www.theguardian.com/society/2015/mar/10/universal-credit-flaws-shorter-hours-work-review-resolution-foundation

UC has a lot of flaws that need ironing out.

It's not unheard of for people in employment to have to go back to work after 3 months maternity leave. I myself went back after 6 months, having worked right up to my baby's due date. Why should people on benefits expect any more than that?

They don't have to, though. If they are prepared to accept a lower standard of living, then they can stay off for longer. As has been pointed out, if they are in a couple, they can actually stay off until the child is 18 and the government will not say a word.

Thank you Elizabeth

They don't have to, though. If they are prepared to accept a lower standard of living, then they can stay off for longer. As has been pointed out, if they are in a couple, they can actually stay off until the child is 18 and the government will not say a word.

I sincerely hope this changes. This is also why I tend to disagree with the frequently used argument that there's no use in trying to change the benefits structure because fraud is super-low. Surely this isn't fraud, but neither is it using benefits as a safety net.

At the same time, I object fully to the fact that a married couple working NMW or slightly better can't raise two kids without government support. This is obviously never going to happen so long as their wages are supported by tax credits.

Never heard of housing benefit being issued, speaking as me and DH are both have NMW jobs and have top ups of tax credits always thought we weren't entitled to any help in that aspect

Most housing benefit is claimed by people who work.

Possibly you're not entitled glitter, it depends on rents in your area as well as what you're earning. If you're living somewhere cheap, you probably won't get any HB, but if you're in Central London on 2 x NMW at 35 hours a week you might. Worth checking out as a pp said.

The citizen's income thing is quite interesting, and in some ways it's an attractive theory. But all the costings I've ever seen have it far too low to live on if it were to be affordable. There's not a chance in hell we could afford 10k per person. That's over £800 a month. It's a lot.

Knee Really? That is an interesting fact.

Yes our rent is quite low, £130pw for 2bed flat. Like I said I've never heard of it being issued before but after lady pointing out differences in housing prices all over the country, it makes sense.

Learn something new everyday on MN

I'm self employed so went back after 13 weeks. I'm part time so it wasn't too bad and I had a local childminder so could pop in to breast feed if working all day.

Marking place

Elizabeth- accepting a "lower standard of living" would for us have meant moving house, selling our car etc etc. It wouldn't have only meant forgoing the two week holiday that year! (Haven't had one of them for years). As it was, by 6 months we were starting to struggle. I think the bank breathed an audible sigh of relief when I got paid again!
Having children is expensive and a struggle even when both parents are in employment. However, it is a choice. It isn't unreasonable, having made that choice, to accept that you may not be able to afford 12 months at home and that parents who are working and paying taxes might be a bit miffed at funding you to be able to do what they can't.

'Fortuntely:'
Quite naturally YOU will probably not have a problem returning to work with a baby just one year old since you have a partner????

The government forcing single mothers into work while their children are so very young is cruel and blatant discrimination. Most mothers did not choose to be single for what ever reason, many single mothers have done what they considered to be the right thing and sacrificed their own careere's and aspirations, to not only take care of the children but their husbands as well only to have the rug pulled out from under them when the relationship breaks down. I absolutely must add that many single mothers do not even have family members they can rely upon for assistance either financially or practically, they are completely alone. Raising a child alone and being both parents is very hard although rewarding work. Often there is no restbite, nobody to collect your child from the child minders if your working hours do not allow for commuting, nobody to take turns at picking up children from school or dropping off, to name a multitude of parenting requirements contently observed to be egalitarian of couples; yet this government does not recognise the extra hard work of raising a child alone and punishes lone mothers as though they are to blame for the misfortune of being alone. Whether working or at home, single mothers will always be most vulnerable compared to the luxurious life of most coupled arrangments. The discrimination is manifested in the fact that married and coupled mothers regardless of how high their husbands/partners income is ARE LEFT ALONE!
They too should be made to work, and those who choose to live off of hubbies income, their partners/husbands should be forced to pay a tax equivalent to what the woman should be paying should she be working a full 40 hour week. A hornets nest I am sure I have opened, and I know that those who are privileged to have a family with a patriarchal leader will panic, turn into a reptile and spew out as much venum as possible. Simple anthropological facts, spieces will DEFEND privilege regardless of whether it is fare or not, regardless of inequality and injustice!