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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To not want to work for £3.58 an hour?

290 replies

DontHaveAGoPlease · 03/05/2018 17:56

Going to get absolutely flamed for this!

I'm a single mum to 1, in regards to UC, I get the equivalent to a monthly full time wage this includes CM.

If I go back to work for 22 hours a week, I will be effectively earning the above an hour.

Do I just suck it up or wait for my DS to get his 15 Hours free??

I am desperate to work but I'd hate to look back and regret outsourcing my childcare all for the above. Shall I just suck it up and go for it or suck it up and look after my ds??

I've already braced myself for the flaming!

OP posts:
lovemylover · 03/05/2018 18:30

I think people are bring very harsh on the op,if you are getting UC and want to work as well, for every £ you earn you are deducted 63p,
My son has looked into this, and apart from what the wage would be,the busfares would eat it all up
Unless you are in that situatiomn you cant judge
If there are a lot of hours it might not be too bad, but for part time work its not worth it
Plus losing some benefits,
It doesnt inspire anyone to work,its a struggle

MumofBoysx2 · 03/05/2018 18:33

If you can manage on one wage then I would stay home with your child, it is such a small amount and they are only little!

Awwlookatmybabyspider · 03/05/2018 18:33

What's with the Hmm face Hedgehog.
If you've got something to say just come out with it.

Im not going to flame you. I have no right to. I'm not you. I'm not living your life. Plus I didn't have to pay for Childcare my parents and GPS worked it between them so it would be very 'I'm alright Jack' to say. "Tough shit if even if you are no better off get a fuckin job"
If I didn't have my family to help I probably couldn't have afforded to go to work.

RickyGold · 03/05/2018 18:36

I know when I went from 30 hours a week to full-time, I was working the extra hours for much less than £3.58 an hour and this was a job which required a post grad qualification, however it was good in terms of pension contributions and my promotion prospects, so glad I did it. So I would advise looking beyond the immediate cash in your pocket advantages. Another huge advantage, is earning too much for tax credits and not having to face the inevitable yearly audit of payments and child care

Fruitteatime · 03/05/2018 18:37

Only you can make the decision for your family. If it was me I'd work out the difference in income between the two options. Then you have to decide if having a job and building up experience and a work history, which may further your career in the future and enhance yours and your ds life is more worth it or if you feel your family would benefit more from you having one to one time with your son and going back to work when he gets the 15 hours or goes to school. There will be advantages and drawbacks to both sides. Both are valid options and I personally think both are worthy of consideration.

DeloresJaneUmbridge · 03/05/2018 18:40

Unfortunately OP you are claiming UC which makes you lower than dog shit according to some folk...as can be seen by their "oh so helpful" responses on this thread. Hmm

It all depends upon what that work is.

If it's a career where taking time out will make it harder going back then it's worth doing and keeping your hand in.

If however it isn't a big career move and will leave you worse off then wait for that 15 hrs a week and look around then.

I took time out when my son was struggling and claimed full benefits (so sue me...I did fuck all wrong).

What I would say is that once you take a significant time out of work it becomes harder to go back to work. I've done it as I appraised where my strengths were and then found a job which suited those. I've now got off benefits completely again but it took a while.

Storm4star · 03/05/2018 18:40

Personally I would think 1 year mat leave, part time from ages 1-4 and then full time thereafter would seem like a reasonable life plan. That way you continue to pay into your pension, continue to keep your skills up to date, have a good work life balance and model responsible citizenship to your child. Win win all round.

This is maybe a good plan if you have a partner. Take a 9-5 job as an example. Mum might make it to the childminders by 5:30/6, then still has to get home. Dinner and it’s basically bedtime. Then when they’re teenagers, what they just roam the streets until mum gets home? Given there’s only one wage mum probably can’t afford a cleaner. So you get an exhausted mum who has very little quality time with her children. And before everyone starts blasting me with “we’re a couple and we have to do those hours” do you really? Or do you do it so you can afford a nice house and foreign holidays? Nothing wrong in that if you do but I hate this pressure on single parents to “do it all”.

Somersetter · 03/05/2018 18:43

If you have the option of working 3 days a week and thereby being better off than you are now, I would grab it personally. Your ds may even benefit from being in nursery - don't assume he won't.

As for missing out on his milestones, welcome to life for working parents - even in families with one stay at home parent there's usually one who goes out to work.

twelly · 03/05/2018 18:44

The wage earned is not £3.58, that is the wage minus childcare. Many people have other expenses when they work ie travel, work clothes, other expenses people may in occur when they work. If everybody calculated their wage in this way then I am sure lots of people would question whether it is worth them working

paxillin · 03/05/2018 18:45

What would you earn in 5 years' time if you went back only once he gets his 15 hours? What would you get in 5 years' time if you went back now? If it is much the same, wait until you get the help.

TroubledLichen · 03/05/2018 18:45

You need to think long term, take yourself out of job market now and for every month you are out of work it will be that bit harder to find a job when you do decide the time is right to go back.

The cost of nursery will go down as your DC gets older, then government help will kick in, then they will be at school. I know it’s tough but staying in work now will pay off and then some over the next few years.

starzig · 03/05/2018 18:46

3.58 an hour wouldn't cover my rent

Flutist · 03/05/2018 18:46

What so many people are apparently failing to grasp is that it depends if it's a good job. Working doesn't ensure future financial security if your job is crap. If you're a cleaner your employer won't care how many years you've worked there - you'll still be on minimum wage and your job won't be any more secure than it was on Day 1. And minimum wage jobs rarely have entry requirements or require any up to date skills - if you apply for a new cleaning job they aren't bothered how long you've been a cleaner or how long you've been out of work. As long as OP is claiming child benefit she'll get her NI credits for state pension. As for private pensions - they're out of reach anyway for many minimum wage workers, you basically get pennies and wouldn't even bother if it wasn't compulsory.

pointythings · 03/05/2018 18:48

Well, I went back when both of mine were 6 months. And by your calculations at that point in time I was earning £2.42 an hour. Fortunately I had a DH so that helped but yes, it wasn't great.

On the other hand DDs are now teenagers, I am on a good wage and I am (as of recently) a single mum, so I am glad I worked all that time so that I could at least get to where I am now.

If you really want to work, you should. Honestly, your baby will be fine and you won't miss milestones. It's all about the time you make for them when you are with them. The early years are really tough as a working parent, far harder still as a single working parent, but sticking with it does pay off.

Juells · 03/05/2018 18:48

*Insancerre Thu
I'm effectively working for about 10p an hour as our joint mortgage is just over what I earn

I can't get my head around what either you or the OP are claiming. You're not working for 10p an hour, you're working and putting all your wages/salary towards a mortgage. You're buying something with your wages.

The OP wouldn't be working for £3.58 an hour, she'd be using her wages/salary to pay somebody to mind her child so she can get back to work.

Flutist · 03/05/2018 18:49

If everybody calculated their wage in this way then I am sure lots of people would question whether it is worth them working
They do. In fact that's exactly why so many women (including me) are SAHM - because it isn't worth working once you factor in the cost of childcare.

DuchyDuke · 03/05/2018 18:51

The benefits of working are cumulative as wages rise, you get bonuses, you get a pension, you get childcare vouchers, you get tax free allowances. After a few years you would actually be financially better off if you worked.

MaisyPops · 03/05/2018 18:51

The wage earned is not £3.58, that is the wage minus childcare. Many people have other expenses when they work ie travel, work clothes, other expenses people may in occur when they work. If everybody calculated their wage in this way then I am sure lots of people would question whether it is worth them working
Can I take off the cost of running a 2nd car from my salary, and monthly travel costs? Oh and my work clothes. That reduces my income quite a bit and they are costs I wouldn't have if I stayed at home.

Viviennemary · 03/05/2018 18:59

You will be getting over £60 a week more than you would not working. And that's quite a bit of money. But I agree it's disheartening to see how working is hardly profitable when benefits are so generous.

MoodyTwo · 03/05/2018 19:17

I work full time, it's costing me money to work !
I have to stay in the job market or I wouldn't get anything like where I want to be in 5 years ...

Flutist · 03/05/2018 19:20

The benefits of working are cumulative as wages rise, you get bonuses
Not if you work at McDonalds asking if you want fries with that. This thread just shows how many people have such little idea of how crap it is for the people at the bottom working zero-hour min-wage jobs.

Flutist · 03/05/2018 19:22

I have to stay in the job market or I wouldn't get anything like where I want to be in 5 years
What if your job had no opportunities for progression, and you'd still be in exactly the same place in five years? Would it still be worth working when you end up out of pocket?

PurpleTigerLove · 03/05/2018 19:24

You make it sound like you have a choice whether you work on not . I’m afraid that ship has sailed , you have a child now , go to work to pay for you both .

Grandmaswagsbag · 03/05/2018 19:25

I definitely wouldn’t. It really isn’t that long in the grand scheme of things until you’ll get the nursery hours.

saison4 · 03/05/2018 19:30

If everybody calculated their wage in this way then I am sure lots of people would question whether it is worth them working

They do. In fact that's exactly why so many women (including me) are SAHM - because it isn't worth working once you factor in the cost of childcare.

I guess you have a DH though who is in work. Quite different bit different from families who are 100% benefit dependant.

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