Are we going to be able to survive on this money?

[username6050]

£2,100 between us a month.

Rent is £900.
DP has to pay £400 maintenance.
£450 nursery charges a month.
Will have a 2 year old and a newborn.

It's all seeming impossible!

isn’t and having that number of kids is irresponsible unless you can fund them

And they can.... why should they pay for private school?

This must be my dream ...no way is the op entitled to over £1k UC when they have an income of £2100.

You’ve made several errors - firstly you’ve assumed 85% of child care costs are paid - only up to 85% is paid, dependant on income - the op may well not get the max amount.

Secondly - as a two parent household with one SAHP (I think?) i don’t even be think the op will eligible for childcare costs at all.

Thirdly you’ve entered a £900 allowance for rent - my LHA is £120pw - if the ops is similar, you’ve significantly over estimated the allowance.

Off the top of my head I think it seems more likely the op is entilted to maybe a couple of hundred UC not over a grand.

CaravanHero I am well versed on UC calculations.

To clarify some things as you may not be aware. UC add elements up. So for wach element, the total is added on. The way it works for childcare is that 85% of the total cost is added to all the other elements (up to the maximum 85% element of £646 for one child, £1108 for 2 children). So for the OP £382.50 is 85% of £450. This is then the amount you add to the other elements. The whole award is then deducted from, not just the childcare amount.

Your 2nd point - she is not a SAHM. She is on maternity leave. She is entitled to add childcare costs on for the paid period of maternity leave. There are no minimum hours for claiming childcare on UC, just that you are employed (or self employed).

Your 3rd point - I mentioned more than once about local housing allowance, and asked the OP to message me her local authority so I could make her an accurate figure. Even if the LHA was for example £150pw, her total UC would still be £895. So significantly more than a couple if hundred.

I hope you now understand more on how UC works. If I can answer any more questions, feel free to ask.

JoanMavisIcecreamGirl
It can be a good idea to pay, depending on where you live. Too many gangs around and hanging out with bad company, my BIL decided to go private with his only child and she is now doing very well.

Too many gangs around and hanging out with bad company

Going to private school will not stop that.

Plenty of kids do really well in state school and manage to avoid gangs