To be gutted we're not entitled to any financial help?

[DeanaPiana]

Myself and DH have a combined income of £46000.

I have done numerous calculators and apparently, I am not entitled to Child Tax Credits or Working Tax Credits when baby gets here.

A few sources have even said I shouldn't go for Child Benefit as it wouldn't be worth it in tax returns

We didn't budget for a baby thinking we would get extra help to finance them etc, but I thought we were entitled to at least a little something and I have to say, I feel gutted. We live in a high cost area, London, and rent here too. We want to move out into a more rural/outer area in the next 2 years max but that just doesn't seem possible now. No way we can afford to save that much. We don't even have a lot of outgoings. Our rent is over 1K a month and that is considerablly cheap here.

Just doesn't seem fair at all

[Fab39ish]

You don't get child Benefit if you earn 60k and it is staggered over 50k.
You are right mrsdv Re fan. It is a weird.

[DeanaPiana]

Thank you for all the input. Before I started work at my new job, I was off for a year (no employment), so to start a job now and look for a new one somewhere else doesn't look good, does it? I won't have much experience at all in the field I want to stay and progress in, so why would another NHS trust employ me? It would be very long winded indeed, plus for anyone who works in the NHS, you will know they take bloody forever to finalise a start date etc.

DH's job pays a lot less anywhere else. He is currently earning 25k. If he moved to say, South East (not London), most of the same roles are paying between £15K to £20K max. Rent will only be a few hundred cheaper. My Mum works full time, I couldn't get her to have little one.

I can see why people claim we single people. And no, I wouldn't dream of doing it.

[TheFirstMrsDV]

How lovely that they are your best hope janet because they certainly are not mine.

I am looking forward to poverty and instability as I hit middle age.
Despite being one of those Hard Working Decent Families I hear so much about.

Apparently my definition of Hard Working and Decent doesn't match the one in previous Tory Manifestos.

Its not enough to be decent and hardworking. You also need to be healthy and fairly affluent to meet their criteria.

[Capricorn76]

£46k between two peoples (£23k) is not rich at all.

The OP is being treated very unfairly. She is not responsible for anyone else's poverty so spare her the 'well try bringing up five kids on £12k rubbish'. The competitive poverty is ridiculous and those same people don't seem to realise that we all know they get thousands in child benefits, tax credits, free nursery places and all types by of freebies and exemptions. They probably have family help for childcare too.

Although I'm not in her situation I can see that it can't be easy in London when you're just over the threshold for any help. She will notice a lot of people around her, many not even working who appear to have more disposable cash due to how the system works. I'm not blaming those that claim everything under the sun as they are legally entitled to it but there should be some empathy for people like her not the attacks. I can't see what attacking her achieves. It's not her fault if things aren't working out in your own life.

[JanetBrown2015]

If they have any sense they will. The Tories are our best hope!

(Right above on child benefit. I claim it and then pay it all back each year. Some people might be just over the limit for it one year and not the next so it probably pays to claim anyway just in case as long as you don't spend it and not have it to pay back in cases like mine).

[LuluJakey1]

I wonder how many of the moaners about the cuts this government have made to benefits for parents, the cost of living in London, the cost of childcare etc will still be voting Tory in the upcomng General Election?

[CrowLeftOfTheMurder]

You will get child benefit (£82 every 4 weeks) and should always claim it even if you don't get any benefit payment, it ensures the child is logged into the system to get a national insurance number when they're 16. You won't get tax credits though. When I had DD and was on mat leave we got £10 a week because you can deduct SMP and any unpaid leave you take from your income for that tax year. We got tax credits for a couple of years after that but our joint income was below £23k AND we paid some childcare until she started reception. We don't get anything now (joint income £29k due to increase in hours when she started school) The only way you'd get tax credits on that income, possibly, is if you pay childcare. Might be worth running that through the calculator if you know you'll be doing that later.. Even if you qualify for help with childcare though they only pay you up to a maximum of 70% of the actual cost. In most cases people who appear to be raking it in with tax credits are actually paying massive childcare costs for a couple of children which quickly adds up to thousands a year.

[RedBlu]

How was I moaning about it? £80 is £80, and no people who don't have children don't get it, obviously. Should I be bitter for all the years I haven't received it because I chose not to have children until now? Dont think so

[NameChanger22]

Some things are more expensive in London, some things aren't.

For example entertainment can cost nothing in London as there are so many free museums and galleries that you'd never have to spend anything at weekends if you didn't want to. In most other towns and cities parents spend a small fortune taking their kids out and keeping them busy.

[JanetBrown2015]

£60 a day nursery in London someone asked about? (£300 a week - £15,600 a year) Few are that cheap actually certainy near the centre. I know someone paying £24k a year (one child full time) which is £92 a day and this one I just looked up randomly is £70 a day www.turtlesnurserycoventgarden.co.uk/fees.html

[expatinscotland]

Yes which everyone gets!

No, plenty of people who don't have children, have grown children or who earn too much (and that includes couples on the same income as the OP, but where there is only one earner) don't get it at all. It's massively entitled to moan about getting £80 for reproducing because, boohoo, 'everyone gets it'. No, they don't, but they're still paying it out.

[RedBlu]

Yes which everyone gets!

[expatinscotland]

'I am due next month and we aren't "entitled" to claim anything and our household income is just under £40K. We obviously will get the standard £20.80 a week but that is all. '

That's all? That's over £80 a month, and it's a benefit.

[Babyroobs]

In my job I had a couple yesterday complaining that they couldn't get fsm for their teenagers. They had a monthly income of nearly 2.5k. I really don't how people can think this is realistic.

[RedBlu]

I am due next month and we aren't "entitled" to claim anything and our household income is just under £40K. We obviously will get the standard £20.80 a week but that is all. However we knew all this before we even started trying.

Granted I don't live in London so our expenses are lower, but I didn't expect to receive anything benefits wise so we have budgeted accordingly.

[Darbs76]

To be fair 46k combined in London isn't a lot, up north it is.

[TheFirstMrsDV]

No you don't support two kids on 12k

You forgot free school meals

You don't get FSM if you get WTC. You can be on a very low income and not qualify.

[Astro55]

No you don't support two kids on 12k

You forgot free school meals

[Bluewombler2k]

Has anyone said Maui yet?

[KimJongCunt]

Oh silly OP.

You'll be fine. Just have a few more kids.
I earn 45K and with my five I qualify for ctc and cb.

[Babyroobs]

isn't the government giving more hours of free childcare to 3 and 4 year olds soon?
Assuming a years mat leave, that only leaves a couple of years of high childcare costs. Op can explore childcare vouchers, perhaps see if her employer would let her do condensed days etc to cut costs a little. I haven't wtwt so apologies if this has already been suggested.

[letsmargaritatime]

There is a lot of indignant outrage and competitive poverty on this thread, and a lot of it is total bollocks, like this.
I support two kids on 12k. Yes I get help. Swap if you feel so hard done by
No you don't support two kids on 12k. If your income is 12k you get at least 7-8k on tax credits, tax free, plus CB. This is like an extra 10 grand on your salary. So give us the real figure, or it's not an accurate comparison. Many posters are throwing about ridiculous low figures about their income without mentioning the TC and CB that tops up their income. Yet at the same time telling the op that she "has" £46k and is wildly rich which of course she doesn't, as that is before tax. Double standards.

[gillybeanz]

I think some people have forgotten that everyone used to get cb and the cut off for tax credits was 42k.
The government of the time (labour) realised that this was the amount that was needed, then all of a sudden the cuts came in.
46k is a lot to some people but not to others dependant on property, childcare etc.
Whilst we all make our own choices on how we spend our income it's clear to see that 46k is not a huge amount of money these days.
I'm on far less than this, but our family survive as few low outgoings.
I feel sorry for people who are struggling whatever their income.

[PerpendicularVincent]

October, how can you call the OP rude and a silly cow? You are the rude one, name calling is totally unnecessary.

You clearly haven't read the thread either.

[bibbitybobbityyhat]

Is £60 per day expensive for nursery in London?