School job pay gap

[TheSunnySide]

Posting here for traffic.

I have just left a job in one school to go to another. My previous school will be paying me through the summer and my last pay packet is mid August. However my new pay date (different local authority) will be on the last working day of September. I start work there on 30th August.

What do ai do about not having any salary coming in for all for the two weeks from Mid Sept to the end of the month?

I am a single parent on some benefits that top up my salary but they will soon be reduced due to a slight pay rise which I will have informed HMRC about in August.

Is there anything I can do apart from take a mortgage break?

I doubt if I could find anything that would pay me enough to put my 11 year old in to childcare but I could ask his dad to have him every weekend perhaps instead of every other and get myself a weekend job. Will have a look at hat’s available

thank you.

I do this. I work every other weekend when school are at their dads. Most places are desperate atm so will take what they can get and I can often pick up extra shifts in the holidays when they have some extra time there or my parents can watch them for a few hours. I've even left them at home while I did a short evening shift and they loved the responsibility.

Although I have been thinking of ways to get my son to be more independent before he starts high school so leaving home all day and letting him navigate running the house could do wonders for him so thank you 🙏

That’s amazing. How old are your kids and what work are you doing?

They are 9 and 12. I do bar work in a local type pub that serves food so it's a bit of bar and waitressing

I was wondering about casual work in the summer - is DM close enough & able & willing to help with childcare.

Or does your child have any days with her DF?

Ah wow. To be honest I wouldn’t leave my 11 year old home alone for long periods of time.

I was shocked when I looked up the free school meals thing. I'm a newly single parent on £11k and don't qualify on UC. But if I was in child tax credits I could earn £17k. So strange.

EH has him every other weekend. He is in full time work so can’t have him in the summer and when he can it’s not planned enough to be able to allow me to find work TBH.

my mum and her partner are in their 70s and vulnerable to covid so I feel uneasy about asking for childcare.

That is odd. Here I. Wales I think if I was on UC I might be entitled to more but being on Tax Credits means I can’t get those benefits.

I left one LA where I was paid on 15th each month and moved to one where it was the last Thursday of the month. I wasn’t on my own though, so we minimised spending in August and September.

Ah wow. To be honest I wouldn’t leave my 11 year old home alone for long periods of time.

I don't leave them for long periods. I only normally work when they are at their dads or if on occasion my parents can have them which isn't often. It was a 4hr early evening shift to cover an event. The hourly rate is more than that at my school job so it really bumps my wage to pick up the odd extra on top of the every other Saturday long shift.

I was shocked when I looked up the free school meals thing. I'm a newly single parent on £11k and don't qualify on UC. But if I was in child tax credits I could earn £17k. So strange.

I'm on tax credits. The cut off for the grants is exactly the same as on UC unfortunately. I earn around 10k and don't get it either

bank accounts that give cash bank when you open them is a great idea.

do you have anything at all you can sell??

I am not sure so check - but I’m pretty sure if you delay a council tax payment that don’t freak out for a while. I’ve missed ones where I messed up the direct debit and not a ping term problem. But obviously you ultimtnred the one y to pay it.

check if you’re overpaying on your energy monthly direct debit.

ove got a friend who used to make money from doing online surveys? I sorta tried but was a pain in the neck but I wasn’t desperate so you could try that?

Is exh paying proper maintenance? Could
you have a discussion with him and explain what it will mean in terms of paying for dc for the period and could
he cover thst? ESP as you can’t work because you have to look after dc

He does pay CM yes. However he has another child and a step child so his finances are stretched and my CM payments have gone down.

I am going to ask with High School uniform costs which will help, although I have managed to get most of what my son needs by myself by buying a bit at a time and buying second hand for things like football boots.

really this is a short term financial
worry that I would like to get through without impacting our future living costs as much as I can.

Ah that sounds like a good idea. I will have a look into it. How does it impact any benefits you get when you earn extra on top of your usual salary?

Yes but if you’re on child tax credits and working tax credit you don’t qualify. And below that income level you’re entitled to working tax credits so I don’t understand how anyone who is working and on child tax credits would qualify. The working tax credit amount is often considerably less than the cost of the school meals!

I’m a secondary school librarian who works 32 hours a week term-time only and I get paid just over £25k a year. I’m horrified at the pay difference of £20k never mind £12K.

Ah that sounds like a good idea. I will have a look into it. How does it impact any benefits you get when you earn extra on top of your usual salary?

No because is still within the figure where your tax credits letter says you need to contact them if you expect to earn above/below. Tbh I think it works out better doing that kind of casual work if your on UC as it's automatically updated from HMRC in real time however there's never a good time to change over given the 5 week wait for any money. Will wait til I'm forced

To be honest, the job I am going to is well paid compared to where I am coming from but it is still well below £25,000 for the salary if working 59 weeks so at 39 weeks pro-Rata it is thousands of pounds less. There is such a disparity between different LAs.

Anyway. I am guessing there are many TAs, Admin staff and other support staff who are in the same boat. Throw single parenting into the mix and it can get tricky.

He is in full time work so can’t have him in the summer

I think you need to look into this a bit more.
I am in full time work, and a single parent with no ex on the scene i.e. my child is with me all the time. He's a bit older now, but I have had many years of juggling work and childcare with no support.

Also, would your ex be comfortable knowing you are using a food bank to feed your child?

We get 6 weeks paid holiday (5+ bank hols) so get paid 45 weeks however there's is also the reduction because I work 25 hours not the 36 it's based on. My 19k salary ends up at about 10

Yes I am getting it in the Autumn.

anyone on Tax Credits will have to wait until then but it will help me get out of any debt I might have.