To not want to work more hours? (Universal Credit)

[Abneyandteal19]

Hi
Have never claimed benefits before except child benefit as we've always earns over threshold, situation now is....
3DC ages 4 (preschool) 6 and 8.

I work part time professional job management - but job share 15hrs PW. Income £14500

DH professional job in region of £60-65k has never been out of work until now. His contracts ended in Dec. Had a job lined up for Jan- company funding issues have meant they've delayed his start indefinitely. Of course he is desperately searching.

Done all calculations and looks like we are entitled to some UC, so filled in all forms. Have to agree to commitments, DH has to look for work log jobs applied for work coach etc...all fine no problem

But my commitments have come back with I must agree to look for more hours work. I am not sure I can do this... my job is job share split 40/60 so there are no more hours. I have my preschooler everyday I don't work.

Main point is we were just looking for a bit of help for a few months until DH starts and then gets paid for a new job. Chances are he will absolutely get one in next 3 months and then of course will will cease claiming anything and then me working part time will be totally fine again.

It's not that I don't want to work more just not that easy to find something for a few hours a week that will pay more than childcare will cost? Any thoughts/experience? So AIBU not to want to work more hours?

@MistressoftheDarkSide the ops dh hasn’t been dealt an unfortunate hand - he’s had something happen that is entirely to be anticipated as a contractor

I would bet that he’s not now seeking a permanent job but is well t another contractor job - because you get paid more as a contractor. And the OP wants everyone else to pick up the risks of that.

Why would the children suddenly need preschool, childminder, afterschool clubs for a month or two?

their father is sat at home, not working. Yet you seem to think that o/p will be doing all the childcare and work part time? What is he expected to do?

one of them needs to pick up extra work. It doesn’t matter who. The other takes on the childcare needs.

also, the agreement with UC is to look for extra work/hours. That's not too onerous, is it? I'm not sure what it's like in UK now.

A permanent role? Would he take it? As things are it seems a better option than being a contractor.

@Hmmmmaybe

Congratulations on missing the entire point of my post. I think that having a job lined up then pulled out from under his feet on top of issues resulting from the pandemic is being dealt an unfortunate hand.

Neither the OP or her DH have stated they want to be state dependent. With the rising cost if living they are trying to work round their circumstances and keep their position stable which is what their children need and deserve.

Why does everyone not see the bigger picture which I touch on?

before I got pip and LCWRA I was getting hassled constantly to work.

I decided to just make a very honest cv which meant i was never even offered any interviews

@MistressoftheDarkSide the bigger context of the sysTel the OP wants is for the state to subsidize contractors who benefit from the higher pay of contracting from the risks of doing so. Ie to subsidize higher earners to maintain higher earnings - that is not the point of the welfare state.

contractors should have savings in place for this eventuality

and the op or her husband could work outside of job hunting interview hours - but they don’t want to do this because they consiser
yhis below their higher income lifestyle

Why on earth would anyone choose to have three children in such precarious circumstances. We stuck with one because of childcare costs (after our first we were aware these were the same as a mortgage payment). People are constantly beefing about immigrants being on benefits, it’s not them you’ve got to worry about, it’s the entitled attitude of modern parents.

YANBU at ALL to not want to work more hours @Abneyandteal19 who the F wants to spend more time at work? I heard someone say the other day, that people who choose to work much more hours, and are workaholics, are people who have nothing else going on in their lives, or have nothing to go home to, OR they are trying to get away from something at home. (I don't mean someone going from 18 to 26 hours, I mean like 50+ hours a week.) Just why?!

I wish you luck ; Hope it all works out and you don't have to do more hours!

Can someone please explain why two perfectly able bodied adults, one of whom is not working at all and the other is working just 15 hours a week, shouldn't find temporary part time work to supplement their household income?

Why on earth is the answer of majority of posters here that a professional worker that would be on £45k full time should go and look for bar work or shop work on minimum wage as their first stop to fill a gap in family finances?

OP were I in your shoes I’d start by looking for roles in my industry on similar FT salaries that were FT or 50% plus and apply to them. If you are right and OH gets a job soon then you can stop looking. If not you’ve hopefully lined up something that will get you back to far closer your original family earnings and OH can look for a part time role (or if all kids are in school and you can make it work he could look for a full time one). It isn’t a requirement that you apply for every job in existence to claim universal credit (particularly when you’ve just started claiming and you already earn equivalent of something like 24 or 25 hours a week on minimum wage).

From reading the thread I think these are the best suggestions. Obviously the OP can’t give up the job she has as its ideal for the long term.

1. apply for a mortgage payment holiday, it’s exactly what they are designed for.

2. check with work to see if they have any extra hours available temporarily

3. look for an extra job on evenings or weekends, one that you could keep for a few months after your DH returns to work to recoup any savings you use during this period. This would negate your feelings about only doing a job a short while.

What on earth are you on about?

The OP's DH was in well paid work continuously until December. The rug was pulled from under him with further work. OP works around her kids - as one does.

This family are a classic example of where the 2 child rule punishes and impoverishes people who never intended to be in this situation. As advisers you see this regularly whether through this sort of misfortune, sudden disabling illness or where the bloke has scarpered with another woman.

OP, if your job is so flexible, surely you could take the kids for half a day or so if your husband gets a last minute call or interview, and work your hours around it? Even if it does mean parking them in front of the TV for a bit, as a one off that won't do any harm.

I think it may have been misleading to say contractor.
End of 2022 DH took a job which was 12 months with possibility to extend. This was billed as a longer probation period and what they offer all new starters to see how things go, all the way through he passed all assessment got good appraisals etc and they intimated the contract would be extended/made permanent. Then with a month to go they pulled the plug and said it wasn't financially viable to keep him on.

To me this is very different to a 'contractor' working a few months here and a few months there.

I am now talking about him looking for contract jobs as they are more likely to come up quickly and want an immediate start etc. so he will be earning money quicker whilst continuing to look for permanent. And also seeing if his job offer he had in Jan comes through.

To say why we had kids in this 'precarious' position. Nothing about our position was precarious. When we had kids I was teaching and DH was civil service. He then took a leap to try to further his career which ultimately did work for a year and then it didnt...

Thanks for all your constructive advice. I'll leave it there for now.

12 months is clearly a contract position and involved risks

he took a risk - fair play - but it’s beyond entitled to expect the welfare state to cushion you from that risk.

but even beyond that - your position is that you think the welfare state should subsidize your husband not working so he can interview for high paying jobs.

So he's not worked for nearly 2 months now? Sorry but 15 hours a week between 2 of you isn't enough. Universal credit should be a safety net for when people can't work, not for when they'd rather not. It's nonsense that he needs to be available 24/7 for recruitment, most people aren't unemployed when finding a new job. Between the two of you, you can absolutely manage to work more hours. Why couldn't he work evenings and weekends for example?

People talking about getting jobs as if it is that easy. It really isn't at the moment.

Many of us have children in addition to a job, and without a husband sitting at home, without the £60K salary for the past few years, and without state help. So please.

It is that easy, especially with only 15 hours a week accounted for between two of them, they can be flexible. Might not be the sort of work he'd like, but it's there.

@Redruby2020 that's not the case here though is it? What's the point in bringing that scenario up? How about looking at this specific situation? Why should OP disadvantage herself because of other people's problems?

I say this as someone who grew up with a single mum. It was really hard but she didn't sit their wishing the hard stuff on everyone else just because things were difficult for us.

The idea is you should both be looking. If he gets a job great but if you not you should be working as he can do childcare.

@LegoDeathTrap

Aye but we're not talking about othe people's situation are we?

We're talking about this one and what's best for this family.

I’m confused. Instead of getting an extra PT job, why doesn’t your husband get a PT job alongisde applying for roles that fit in with his career? Would that not make more sense?

They can't be that flexible if they have children to pick up etc. Plus they might say this job is 16 hours but give you seven or none. I don't really get this "I had it difficult so therefore you should have the same problems" attitude. It takes time also to find these jobs. UC can help them feed the children in the meanwhile.