To ask why you go to work

[IamthepermedowlofVeronica]

Try to be brief but thorough....
Due back from 1 years maternity at the beginning of June. Hate job, don't want to go back. Have had offer of temporary ad hoc work between June and start of summer hols.
Wondered how much job seekers is whilst I apply and interview over summer hols. Did the online calculator tangy: If I work current hours and pay childcare I would earn £6 less than if I signed on job seekers.
So why should I go to work (no career, just a money earning job) and how does signing on work? Has anyone found it detrimental to confidence etc?
Hopefully I'll get another cash earning job in September or,something when ds will be 15 months

Because I have a mortgage to pay, like food and want a pension. Can't stand the actual job and it's detrimental to my mental health (isolating and unsocial) but I have to suck it up.

I find it very difficult to grasp the concept of not wanting to work so claim benefits. If someone can't work or is looking for work thats different but to actually choose to go on JSA is mind boggling. The whole process is horribly degrading. Its certainly not the jobless utopia portrayed in channel 4 programmes.
I work because I came here to work not to claim. I was unemployed for a while. Feeling reduntant and getting a fair bit of anti Irish crap thrown at me by job centre staff spured me on.

I work in a minimum wage job but I love it. I'm a carer and see the work I do as essential. My dp also does shift work so we work our shifts around each other in order to avoid childcare costs. We work to pay the bills and provide for our son without relying on others to do so.
We live fairly frugally in order to save and should be homeowners by the end of the month. I work with people who grew up during rationing and who have worked very hard so I think I've taken lessons from them. I love my son more than anything and I believe part of being a responsible parent is showing them that you go to work and provide as long as you are able. I would love to be a sahp sometimes but I don't see why other hardworking people should fund that.

Firstly thankyou for the honest and interesting replies, genuinely some have been helpful.
But...! The benefits shaming crowd on here can all go boil their heads! I left a fantastic career when I had my first, years of hard work and passion gone in one little redundancy letter. I've since gone through the motions to cover costs and support my family. There is a dh, he earns well but not well enough for me to be an unpaid sahm.
I thought I made it clear I'd be looking for work, sorry if I didn't. I'd like to hand my notice in, do the temporary work til July then sign on because I genuinely will be seeking work but why not claim what 'im entitled to' while I look for another boring and demeaning job I hate.
I know jsa is not the easy option which is why I posted. For advice and to find out why you all go to work (lovely to hear so many people actually enjoy their jobs, I loved my career and thought myself privileged, didn't expect it to be normal!)
Stop shaming people who claim, I hope you never fall on hard times and have to rely on the system
However I'm no further forward. Maybe temporary work will lead toba glamorous and lovely career. I'm tempted to give it a go!

If your dh earns well you probably won't be entitled to much, if anything. It sounds like you've made your choice anyway though. I would look for another job before leaving your current one. And discuss with your dh.

You can't just decide to stop working and claim JSA, as other posters have said you have to actively apply for jobs, min 12 a week I believe and prove when signing on that you have done so. You can't just decide to apply for jobs that suit either, you have to apply for anything you can physically do including the type of job you currently have and hate. If you get an interview and get a job you don't want you can't turn it town. JSA is not a lifestyle choice for someone that would rather be a SAHM.

you don't mention other household income? Partner? All very relevant to JSA and Income Support.

X post, clearer now but same applies

The benefits shaming crowd on here can all go boil their heads!

Benefit shaming is wrong but so is that statement.

As pp have said. Check what Ltd you are entitled to. If you just quit your job you may not get JSA.

If on JSA aswell you can't pick and chose which job to take. You will be expected to take what comes up.

Also, I may be told to "boil my head" for this, but I do think claiming benefits just becausr you fancy it rather than because you need them is immoral. Especially when families are struggling due to benefits cuts, especially disability cuts.

Have explained I would be doing temporary work, then looking for job. I might get one straight away so would not need to sign on.
And the benefits shaming not bothering me as I don't claim (yet) but for those that play the system or genuinely need it I don't think anyone should judge.

I love my job. I love being busy.

Even if we won the lottery, I would still 'work' in some capacity or other - I'd set up my own business. I have lots of plans for when this eventually happens .

Also, y'know, I love being able to afford things like food, rent and bills...

But playing the system is wrong. It takes away from people who are in need of it.

Fratelli I agree with you, doesn't mean its going to stop tho. And i don't believe i would be playing the system if I were to sign on after temp job. Anyway my boring horrible job may still be open and I could go back to that!

I work because it allows our family a better standard of living, I genuinely love what I do and I'm happier a working mum than a stay at home mum.

I hate being financially dependent on anyone and I felt my relationship with DH was less balanced when I was a SAHM.

Stop shaming people who claim, I hope you never fall on hard times and have to rely on the system.

That's not what people are saying though. If you are actively choosing not to return to a job you have available to you (the situation described in the op) you haven't "fallen on hard times".

I absolutely 100% think benefits should be available to those who have been made redundant or cannot work due to ill health and disability. They should be a lot more generous to people in those situations, not to mention fairly judge who is and isn't able to work-a whole other thread. But deliberately choosing not to work when the state will have to foot the bill isn't right. Your updates clarify that this isn't exactly what you were asking, but from the op that wasn't necessarily obvious.

I've been in work (part time as a student, and full time when not studying) since I was 16, apart from two periods of Mat Leave. I just can't imagine not working.

Really though, I had no choice but to work. I'm the main breadwinner for my family (when I was a single parent and since 2013 when my hubby had an RTC). It not only give us the means to live but also means that I can keep up with my career. I worked v hard to get my qualifications and I don't want my registrations to lapse. It also gives me a sense of identity, and it's the only place I feel normal (ie like me). Hubby has been left with permanent injuries from his RTC so home life can be interesting!

Also it shows my children a good example: ie hubby can't work, but I can - so I get on and work. My son knows that it's important to budget, and that if we want to have nice things, I have to work for them etc etc etc.

disclaimer: I'm not suggesting you don't budget if you have to live of IC/JSA/are an SAHP etc!!! And frankly, I think SAHPs are bloody amazing!!! I would have loved to be able to choose whether to work or not, but needs must etc

I've been asked why I work so many times since I became a mother many years ago.

Funnily enough DH says no one has ever asked him.

So my reasons are.

I love my work ( lots of people do it for fun or say they would like to).
I'm very good at it.
I'm goal oriented and like to have a tangible product for my efforts.
I meet loads of interesting and cool people that I wouldn't if I didn't work.

Wow, four pages in before we got a sahm being a judgemental hypocrite! We did well.

OP I work because I enjoy having a balance, to future proof, because it's a tough world out there and I don't want to trust the benefit system to provide if I don't have to, and because what I do is important and there aren't enough people trained to do it. I'd never not want to work, I don't think, so we're very different, but I wouldn't be prepared to work full time for a good while yet. And I've had the good fortune of being able to work without having to use nursery until I and the child concerned were ready. I do empathise with your feelings, even though your plan isn't a particularly wise one in the circumstances.

Based on what you've said, you wouldn't get income support because your partner earns too much, same with income based jobseekers allowance or universal credit. Your one option would be contributions based jobseekers allowance, which lasts for six months max and requires conditions. I'm not sure it would be helpful to you in this scenario. If you want to minimise time away from your child while also bringing in some income, part time work might be your best bet. £72 a week isn't always a very good rate for the amount of labour that might be required to claim it. You could probably get a better hourly rate elsewhere.

I realised in my late 40's I was going to need some sort of a pension! If you are reluctant to work now (whilst you are young) at a job you don't enjoy , just think about having to do it in your 60's.

You never know what life is going to chuck at you, you cannot always rely on your OH to provide (see Maidofrohan's post)

Yes it is nice for you and your DC's to be a SAHM, but nowadays you have choices which weren't previously available to women, think long term and be sensible.

If your job is only temporary, then I can see no reason why you couldn't claim JSA because you wouldn't be voluntarily unemployed. Anyway, it is my understanding that as you have a young child, you would be entitled to claim Income Support in which case you would not need to be actively seeking work anyway. Also, if you would be worse off, or only marginally better off, you can argue that it would not be reasonable to be sanctioned for JSA purposes.

There are an awful lot of people who claim benefits rather than leave their DC in the care of others if there are no real financial advantages in going out to work, so I think you've been unfairly treated on here. Apart from childcare costs, there are the costs of travelling to work, work clothes etc which could mean you are actually worse off in work. Then there is the additional hassle of having to sign on/off benefits, informing DWP about any change in circumstances, all of which can result in long delays with benefits being paid. That is why so many people just stay on benefits. It just isn't true that work pays and the changes to benefits have not significantly altered this situation. I would recommend discussing this with your local CAB for a proper calculation.

FWIW I'm a SAHM and we don't claim any benefits (we're just over the threshold for Tax Credits), although we do get Child Benefit. I really regret not going back to work after DC1. We felt we couldn't afford the childcare and that it would be better all round to have me looking after DCs. Being a SAHM has totally wrecked my confidence and I've become a very dull person with nothing to talk about apart from my DCs. I've also felt quite depressed at times. Now DCs are older, I'm looking for a job, but I can't get one. Nobody wants to employ someone who has been out of work for as long as I have (also live in an area of high unemployment). I volunteer, but it's just not the same as earning money (even the minimum wage). I don't value myself if I'm not earning.

You need to think very carefully about this. Best of luck with whatever you decide to do.

BTW I think the point above about being a role model for your DC is important. I feel like a terrible role model for my DDs. I really regret not returning to work.

Have you sat down and added up how much you would earn going back to work less all the expenses you have to pay out to get you there and maintain your job eg travel, coffees lunches clothes childcare etc then looked at what you would need to do to earn the same by working from home or part time or temping. Me personally earned so little net it didn't take a lot to make up the amount by working part time in a pub I could walk to.

I think it does depend on your personality I know friends who love getting dressed up to go to work in an office and like doing the same things day in and day out because it allows them to go on nice holidays and get their hair and nails done and buy nice clothes and they take great pride in paying their own way. Personally I couldn't think of anything worse. Equally they couldn't think of anything worse than doing the type of stuff I do which involves getting filthy dirty and wading through on occasion other people's shit.

Sometimes it is better for your own sanity to work part time or temp till you find the place you want to be. In the long run in my case it definitely pays better than if I had stayed working in an office environment.

What you are really asking, OP, is whether it is OK to take an employment risk by leaving a hated job which makes you miserable in the hope of finding a better one. Why people are interpreting you doing temporary work and then actively applying for permanent jobs as being a SAHM, I don't know. People leave jobs they hate all the time. It's taking a risk that could backfire on you, but the more you loathe the status quo, the more willing you will be to take the risk. If you don't think you will realistically be able to go back to the current job while simultaneously looking for and interviewing for alternatives, then your temporary work followed by serious job seeking option may be worth the risk. You will be more productive in a job that suits you better. Obviously, you risk finding something worse, with fewer employment rights.

I was a sahm for 7yrs and i became even more depressed than i already was. My kids have disabilities so everyday is the same.there is very very slow progress with the kids, ive been watching in the night garden for 10years. Im now working, i get to wear nice clothes, meet people who see me as me, not so and so's mum. I dont need to work but i choose to. Im so much happier