AIBU?
IMPORTANT. To ask if MNers are aware of this re Universal credit&SAHP’s?
UnsolicitedCockPics · 11/10/2018 09:20
So up til now on tax credits one parent can stay home while the other parent works.
And for almost 20 years it’s been seen as completely acceptable
An example is a family with 3 dc
The FT working parent earns approx £26,000. The SAHP receives approx £100 a week in tax credits
Not only on Universal credit will that amount be much less (approx 30% iirc) but the previously SAHP will be made to attend the job centre and job search as a condition to receive Universal credit
The aim is so NOBODY is on “benefits”
There seems to be an assumption from the general public that this will only affect people not in work. THAT IS NOT THE CASE
Schuyler · 11/10/2018 10:41
YABU, I have problems with the way UC is dealt with and I do not agree with many parts of it. I’m very lefty leaning but even I can’t see the problem with SAHP being expected to work once the child is over a certain age if - and only if - the parent is not disabled or long term ill and the child/REN is not disabled or long term ill.
codenameduchess · 11/10/2018 10:47
- Tax credits weren’t even seen as benefits
They were seen as tax relief for having a family*
That tax relief only for the lucky few though, tax credits is an unfair system that allows some to choose to be a sahp while denying that luxury to many. Once kids are school age the sahp can't claim they need to be home to care for kids who aren't there so why should they carry on getting free money while so many of us manage to care for kids and work?
If you can't afford it don't do it is the answer here. Universal credit isn't great, but this isn't even an issue.
shearwater · 11/10/2018 10:51
I don't have any problem with both parents working but as a society, we need more things in place to make this happen more effectively.
- More taxpayer subsidised childcare, so that it is affordable.
- Men stepping up to take on more childcare responsibilities and a share of housework and wifework - and more employers allowing men to work part time and flexibly, flexibly meaning not bending over backwards for your employer
Until then, women (and it is mostly women) are the ones left with all the issues to sort out. Finding a job where it is actually worthwhile to go out to work because the childcare cost isn't more than your income. Finding a job that won't send you to an early grave with the stress of doing the job plus everything else.
flamingofridays · 11/10/2018 10:53
if you cant afford to be a SAHP without receiving benefits, you cant really afford to be a SAHP can you?
Also a 4 yo would likely be in school anyway so I don't see the issue with having to look for work.
You can stay at home and not claim, though. Then you're under no obligation to get a job.
megletthesecond · 11/10/2018 10:53
A yanbu from me too.
And I'm a PT working LP.
As hurricane has already said, who looks after the kids in school holidays? Holiday clubs aren't cheap or always suitable for all kids.
And where are the flexible employers allowing the parents to work around school events and holidays 
.
flamingofridays · 11/10/2018 10:57
if you don't have a flexible job/helpful family it can be impossible to find childcare for that amount of time
I don't have either of those things and we both work. We just pay for a nursery or childminder like anyone else.
it is not impossible to find childcare, there are many options.
shearwater · 11/10/2018 10:57
Also schools are now much worse for requiring parental involvement. Both of my parents worked and I can count on one hand in the whole seven years of primary school the times they went into school for an event, had to help with homework (there wasn't any) or hear me read. They never once had to make a costume or cakes for a cake sale.
Now that it is much more the norm that both parents are working, I can count on one hand THIS TERM SO FAR that I've done the above. School and the education system need to get fucking real about what they want working parents to do.
Elementtree · 11/10/2018 10:58
How many sahm's of school age children in receipt of tax credits? Do we know? How many jobs are there that are flexible enough to accommodate tha school day
& holidays? Not many I am guessing, so I suppose there is an abundance of flexible childcare for school age children then?
I think the point I'm getting at is the argument is always levied at the individual women - why aren't you working? When surely any sensible approach is to look at the figures en masse.
Pushing people into the workforce doesn't create jobs, it just shoves the individuals around, surely? In a zero-sum game the excess of working labour falls out the sides, you are just exchanging child tax credits on the one hand for job seekers allowance on the other? Bit with the disadvantage that you are swamping already stretched childcare provisions - which are expensive and subsidised by the government.
It seems more a game of narrative than saving money nationally.
hannnnnnnxo · 11/10/2018 11:00
I don’t understand why SAHPs need money from the government in the situation that you describe, with a working spouse. Yes raising a family is expensive, but surely that should have been taken into account when planning a family and trying to conceive? It’s only £100 a week but I’m not sure why the government SHOULD give it to you just because you decided to have children? Having children is a lifestyle choice after all. I’m not trying to be nasty but I’m genuinely trying to understand the other perspective. I can understand in the case of a single parent, or an unemployed family, but not in the situation that you describe. Seems like the SAHM should pick up part time hours or the spouse needs a better job/industry/education rather than relying on the government.
LongWalkShortPlank · 11/10/2018 11:04
I work part time in a school and now that my child is 5 I am still expected to attend the job centre once a month as my wages fell £5 a month below the "computerised threshold after tax". It costs me £7 a month to get there, plus makes me almost late for work, or we are almost late getting there after school. But the computer says so.
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