How are SINGLE mothers supposed to go back to work

[jasmin93]

Another lady just raised a very important question with the title "How are mothers supposed to go back to work".
Many of you suggested that the partner/father should jump in as 50/50 equals. I do agree with that.

Here is my issue: not everyone has a partner or a father who cares about their children. And just imagine you are that single parent with a 1 year old without any family support.

Out of curiosity, what would you do?
Considering your Full time job only brings in 26k gross a year?

Xx

No way would you get HB on a £1.5k salary!

You might. Depends entirely on where you live and how many children. 1.5k after deductions is about 23k p/a. There are absolutely postcodes in the UK where you would be entitled to housing benefit if that's the household income. Because rent costs vary so much by area the thresholds are local not national.

I used to be a single mum for a few years with DS1. I worked full time as a nurse, at first I was lucky enough to have set shifts (I did early shifts and a colleague worked lates opposite to me, it worked for both of us) and then I moved into a clinical nurse specialist role and just worked office hours.
I paid £650 pcm private rent on a two bed house. I didn't have hardly any disposable income but I got by. My sons father did pay me maintenance and would also help out with large costs such as something going wrong with my car (because if I had no car I couldn't get to work etc) and he also paid for any extras DS might need. He also helped out with the deposit for my rent. We had a resonantly amicable relationship and he did take financial responsibility for DS.
I didn't live near my parents so had no help with childcare during the week, DS went to breakfast and after school club everyday.

I won't lie - it wasn't easy but I was happy and content. We didn't have a lot but we had enough. But my life is so much easier now I'm with DH and we have two salaries. Being able to buy a property and not rent anymore was absolutely brilliant, I would never have been able to buy a place as a single parent. I feel I have financial security now and I certainly did not have that as a single mum.

I read that thread and now this one.
I’m not sure if there’s some magical answer everyone is waiting for but it seems pretty straight forward to me- it is what it is.

I’m 6 months pregnant, DH and I under no illusions that DS will get poorly, we will get called at work, we will likely miss out on pay to stay home with him. It’s just part and parcel of being a parent.

The more pertinent question is ‘What did you plan to do in circumstances like this? When you were TTC or initially pregnant, how did you plan to manage child sickness?’ Or even ‘What do you think should happen?’

• Should nursery’s keep/accept unwell children?
• Should work places allow ill children to come in with parents or WFH. I certainly couldn’t get anything done with a poorly child around.
• Should work pay child sickness days? Many workplaces don’t even pay when workers themselves are unwell so seems far fetched.

It’s a bit like complaining about the cost of childcare once you already have a child. It’s a well known fact that it’s expensive and that should be considered prior to giving birth...not after!

@SympatheticSwan sorry you've lost me completely now.