To think there’s no way off the breadline

[MrsHoodwink]

For lack of a better word anyway

Single mum of two that’s on benefits and doesnt want to be my rent is paid by housing benefit. I really want a well-paying job and a comfortable life for me and my children but I feel like there’s no way out

I’d happily go back to education but this means I would have to pay for childcare for 2yo (after the free 16hrs) and I would be in debt every week. I’ve no family or friends to help and this is my biggest problem. I also can’t afford a car to drive to the nearest university (which is about 30miles away)

I have good GCSEs but nothing higher, if I get a 9-5 then once I’d paid for rent (as working would stop my housing and council tax benefit), tax and nursery I’d be in big trouble financially

Is there no way out? Has anyone managed to work their way out of the benefit system because I feel like there’s no hope and I get more and more depressed every day

Do something by a correspondence course, or online. Then maybe by the time DC is at school, you might be free/ready to either get a job or do a degree.

My LO is 3 and gets 30 hours and I work 25 hours a week, I still get housing benefit and some other benefits (I'm on UC), I can't really afford to do more hours as I'd lose more money in benefits than I'd make in earnings.
I don't think there is any way of doing it until they reach 3 and you can get the 30 hours and only then if you work part-time.

Don't beat your self up. You are better off on benefits until they hit school age. Then take a serious look at what you could earn in a starter job and compare it.

You are doing a useful job already bringing up the next generation. Don't forget that.

As PP have said I think education is the key to gaining a well paid job. I also recommend the Open university. You will be eligible for funding to pay your tuition fees as you are on benefits and can study around your children. It will certainly open more doors for you but experience is also important so look in to volunteering opportunities even one day a week whilst the 2 year old is at nursery. X

There's a lot of bursaries and funding available for nursing degrees (including childcare)

Not any more - the government reformed the system for new nursing and midwifery students so that they have to take out student loans as per any other HE student.

Storm4star gives good advice. Think about what you might be interested in and good at, and then if possible fit that to something that's always in demand and that you can train for. Remember that you'll only start repaying a student loan once your earnings reach the threshold (around £18k at the moment I believe),

Could you work as a cleaner while your 2 year old is at nursery, build up some money that way? Good reliable cleaners are in high demand in my area and you can charge around £12.50 an hour. You're not going to make big bucks but really what you need to do is to start building a pot of money, no matter how small it is, so that things don't seem so desperate any more. Once you've done that you can start to think about options.

It may be worthwhile waiting until your children are a bit older and you only have to pay for after school clubs. In the meantime maybe try hairdressing or beauty courses or dental hygienist/nurse etc something that fits round childcare.

Are you intelligent, healthy, hard working and prepared to make sacrifices today for your future? If so then you can work your way out.

Probably easier once your child is in school though. What won't help, is going on to have more and more children whilst already in an insecure situation.

You really need some decent careers advice, so you can assess costs and effort of getting there, and the financial pay off.

Also need advice to work out what you might be entitled to for various routes like loans, bursaries, child care etc.

All of which is hard to access.

Google "career advice organisations" and start doing some research and thinking.

It's definitely worth speaking to your local college to find out what support they offer for childcare. Our local one provides significant childcare funding (100% in a lot of cases) for PT and FT students. I know of at least 2 universities who offer large contributions too (in the region of 70-90% IIRC) so you might find childcare is not as big a blocker as it first appears.

There are many careers that will support you in your learning while you work. Are there specific sectors you want to work in?

An old friend of mine had planned to do medicine at uni but her A Levels went really badly. She ended up working in a bank. They’ve paid her throughout and she’s worked her way from the bank counter through to management through to something banky that I don’t understand. She’s picked up qualifications along the way.

Another friend worked all kinds of jobs, waitress, childminding, nursery cook because they fitted around childcare. Eventually she ended up working at an estate agents and they’ve helped her career development and she earns more than me.

My best mate did do uni but she got the job she has now through the part time work in bars and restaurants, she’s worked her way up in the hospitality world and is an awesome and very well paid recruitment something.

My brother in law dropped out of uni and started working at the local life insurance company (big employer in the area) and again, he worked his way up, picked up plenty of qualifications along the way and has a very decent job which is far better paid than mine.

I’ve banged on a bit but the message is: find a sector you want to work in, get your foot in the door and make the most of all the development opportunities that employer offers. It might seem unattainable and all these people I’ve mentioned have been on years of journeys through their careers but they haven’t just landed at these jobs, they’ve turned up, they’ve slogged at the entry level positions and worked their way up. It is possible and it absolutely doesn’t need a degree. Not knocking education, it just sounds like you’re in a position where you want to get a foot on a rung of a career that actually pays you real life money now. You can do courses in the future when your kids are older and you’ve got more money and time.

Also, it’s hard with a 2 year old and it’s ok to do part time stuff until they’re both in school if that’s what works for you.

@BanananananaDaiquiri student loan repayments are in the mid £20ks at the moment and by the time anyone starting now would qualify it will be in the £30k bracket. The government are shifting it considerably higher each year. For 75% of students it will essentially be free education as we'll never hit the repayment threshold and even if we did it would be £12 a month repayments until it was eventually written off.

I went back to college and did a level 2 and 3 course that was compressed enough to complete while my DC had free 15 hours a week. I did one full day at the college and one full day volunteering in the setting.

It meant a lot of work done in independent study time but I just had to be organised and wouldn't have managed childcare otherwise, so I do understand.
Have you looked to see if your local college offer anything similar?
What would you like to do?

I was on income support as a single parent with a 2 year old. It was hard (you have my sympathy). I was better off on benefits, and the calculators always showed just that, which was hard to swallow. The jobcentre kept encouraging me to do IT access courses and other pointless items of 2-week training courses for which they would pay my bus fare (but not childcare, and there were no funded hours for the child then, and children were not allowed - great).

My tuppenceworth is yes it is entirely possible to escape, I did a degree without childcare - completed it in under four years, and began working a local entry level job half way through it when the dc was able to start primary 1.

Left the entry level after degree was complete and with the addition of some workplace training got a job good enough to pay all the bills and come off benefits. Worked that for three years and was happy with my DC at school.

Don’t get me wrong, being a full time student, full time employee and full time single mother all at the same time was a hard slog for those two intermediate years. Really hard. But it was worth it, eventually I was able to buy my own house, meet someone new, have another dc and set up my own business, in my own premises, in an area related to my degree. Now I employ other people. There was a way off that breadline, happily, for me, and I hope there is for you.

getintoteaching.education.gov.uk/

you would probably need to get some more qualifications - your local college is probably best there, or the OU. Teaching is hard work, but teachers are in short supply and if you are good, promotion is rapid.

Probably need to get some more qualifications - OP has only GCSEs so would need at least five more years of study before she could work as a teacher. It's not by any means impossible or pointless, but probably makes it sound like she's only a short way off being eligible for the job.

What about an apprenticeship? Would you get extra childcare on that? Or a vocational education?

I'm just saying this because I recently qualified with a Masters degree and my first job is earning £17k.... it's not a dream ticket. You have to fight tooth and nail for a good job.

If you had A-levels I'd say try and get into the financial sector at a training level (they get 30k p/a starting salary) and you don't need a degree. Can't you do A levels?

@BanananananaDaiquiri yes you would still need a loan to do a nursing degree. They don't really give any kind of education away for free these days. But... they do offer maintenance grants and childcare grants for nursing, which they don't do with other HE courses, which would be helpful to the OP if she were interested in that path.

I was in this situation...I had nothing but GCSE's. Iwent to work just to pay my childcare costs. I earn £1550 after tax and childcare was £1500. I got tax credits which helped a bit and then when the kids went to school I had lower childcare costs and had moved up the career ladder, did a degree part time (it took 6 years) You need to just bite the bullet and go out to work even if it seems futile. The experience will mens you are more able to get a higher salaried job in future.

Blimey my spelling and grammar went a bit mad there!!😂

If you worked in hotel or restaurant industry, you could work your way up if they offered on site training through various departments

I’m not convinced that hospitality or nursing are good choices for a single parent unless you have family or an ex willing to do a lot of childcare whilst you’re working unsociable hours. Retail may also be out unless you can find weekend childcare.

But there are plenty of other jobs you can do with limited qualifications or experience. It is also worth looking at apprenticeships. Some of them pay quite well. And after the first year if you’re over 19 they have to pay you at least minimum wage, I believe.

I was able to return to uni as a single mum solely because I took out a student loan and applied for a childcare grant through my uni (and also a discretionary grant one year when I was really struggling).

I will likely be paying off the student loan for the rest of my life as I took out the maximum available to me. However - well worth it. I only pay back about £30 per month from an okay wage. I've not long qualified but I'm now earning more than I ever have done and my earning potential is much better than it was before uni.

Make an appointment with the financial service at your local uni. Speak to them about options. Can you move any closer? Is there a train you could get?

When I was a single parent I was getting my rent paid, total council tax exemption. I had a student loan and lone parent grant each month. My childcare was paid for. I got child tax credit and child benefit. I think it is brilliant what financial help is available to help single parents get back into education. It's a great investment. I now work full time (still get child benefit) and am costing the government much less than I was in my pre-uni days when I was claiming tax credits and housing benefit etc.

Please do look into uni as an option.

I would also look at apprenticeships.

Check out do-it.org for voluntary work. Do a few hours a week whilst your 2 year old is in childcare. This will give you a reference for jobs. Jobs normally require 2 references so I'd do 2 different volunteer jobs. Anything involving admin or reception work would be good but just do whatever you can with the small amount of time you have.

It's frustrating as a single parent. I could be earning over 21k a year with my degree and experience but I can't work evenings so that excludes me from a lot of jobs.

You can get a well paid job if you can find evening childcare and can travel. Otherwise, you pretty much are limited to low paid jobs until your children are in secondary school.

I was you three years ago! When my youngest was 2 I did an ou access course which was free and I’ve just finished my second year of an ou degree. I also used my free nursery hours Ofer 2 days 9-3 and volunteered in the dv sector. My youngest child is 5 and I’ve just started working for the same company I volunteered with, I understand there were a huge number of applicants so volunteering does work! Because my children are now at school I’m using after school clubs, working tax credits will pay for that and there’s also child tax credit and housing benefit. Best calculator to use to see what you ciuls get is turn to us. (Don’t necessarily trust what the jobcentre tell you - they told me to claim universal credits which would have left me worse off)