Working expectations for parents on UC

[BlackCatGreyWhiskers]

AIBU to find this really frustrating? Basically there is no expectation for parents to work until their child is age 3. So if a family has more than one child that could be several years.

Whereas maternity leave is only 9-12months.

Especially as universal credit claimants can actually get help towards childcare expenses.

I don’t understand why there is a mismatch between the employed and unemployed?

When I went back after maternity, my pay was around £1500 and my childcare £800, then after I went back with my second my childcare went up to £1200. So I earnt next to nothing for 5 years before the eldest started school.

I agree with this. The playing field needs to be more equal. If money can be saved from UC claimants, then overall maternity and paternity leave pay should be increased or extended. Maternity & paternity leave/pay in the UK is abysmal, and we are far behind many other countries!!

How did you live then? If that was my earnings as you said in the beginning, minus childcare fees, i couldn’t even pay my rent, let alone anything else.

You’re comparing apples and pears. It’s like saying “why should I only have 200 quid in the bank when Elon Musk has billions?”

Why are people comparing state benefits to SMP? As people keep pointing out, you could hand in your notice and claim UC. Nobody is stopping you.

Yes let’s take from Universal Credit, claimed by low earners to keep them out of poverty….

I went through that expectation. 3 years old, find work. I've lived it so I do know how it is and I'm absolutely relevant.

I just think you’re comparing apples and oranges here really, what the government can afford to do vs what your average employer can afford to do.

The average employer couldn’t afford to allow everyone to take 3 years off, hire someone else for that 3 year period, then have 2 people for the same job. Plus 3 years out of most career’s would mean you couldn’t just step back in- mine included, the whole landscape changes massively in 3 years you couldn’t possibly just walk back in and start working, it was an adjustment even after 12 months maternity. BUT we do all have the option to quit/not work until our child is 3, if you don’t want to go back then you don’t have to, you can do the same as those on UC and quit until child is 3 then look for work just like they will.

Exactly she is trying to make it sound like she lived on £1500 a month all alone, with £800 on childcare. So where was rent/morgtage/bills/food/car as a car has been mentioned, being paid from.

@R0ckandHardPlace and join the rest that can’t be bothered to work x

(I don’t begrudge those that do and NEED this before you bite my head off)

But money wouldn’t be saved. Most of those UC claimants if forced back to work would still be entitled to UC as the majority would probably be in nmw jobs. They’d pay about £280 in tax and NI a month, and the government would have to fund full-time childcare on top. Where is the saving coming from?

And again, any hypothetical state savings would not help an employer pay SMP. Do people think the government pay SMP or something?

Also to all the posters who are criticising OP for the “choices” they made - this is a double standard. Some are claiming that OP has an asset so it’s better than those who are unemployed / benefits.

Why should people who have gone out of their way to either study or work hard in their careers and are now being penalised when it comes to rearing children be brushed off because those very choices have allowed them to get onto the property ladder?

Those choices / sacrifices that were made should be applauded and celebrated - not used as a reason not to support someone.

Some people’s attitudes on this thread is genuinely in support of e.g. “Stacey” who left school at 16 and chose to have a baby should get benefits/house etc and be able to not work for 3 years? That’s a choice they made. And she could go on to having another, and possibly another. Meanwhile, OP and many other working women are struggling with juggling working and trying to have and raise children.

We need more net contributors in this country. It’s an utter shambles.

I thought your issue was going to be the other way. My SIL is a single mum and the requirement to work is really challenging. During term time when her child is healthy things are great. Sure, she’s not left with loads of cash after paying for breakfast and afterschool clubs but she’s working.

Come the school holidays or if her child is sick she suddenly can’t work. She can’t get to a holiday club and back to work on time on the bus and she’s lost countless jobs due to having to be off to care for a poorly child.

UC then penalise her for loosing her gainful employment so not only is she without a job but her UC is withheld too.

I honestly don’t think this is a situation to be envious of. Sure she didn’t “have” to work whilst her son was a toddler but she was living in a grotty house in a grotty area with very limited funds to go out and enjoy her time with him. It wasn’t some extended maternity leave with daily trips to baby ballet and puddle ducks or a mooch around the zoo with a Costa.

@Mrsttcno1 a lot of them don’t go back to work though! Just pop out another one 😂

@Mrsttcno1 there’s obviously an element of having nothing to lose as a min wage worker, vs a professional with a career. Women are already disadvantaged whether we like it or not. One reason I’ve never left work is because I’m conscious of not being solely dependent on my DH to live - I’ve always wanted to retain some independence and I don’t see UC as a form of independence, but a safety net which (in my view) should be for those in need rather than a viable and accessible option for all.

This argument is the shittest one anyone could come up with and always comes up on these threads. If everyone quit and went on UC, who would pay for all the benefits? Also, the majority of nurses, teachers, carers, nursery workers etc are female so who’d do all of that?

Quite. It’s such a lazy response to be honest. It’s not even really an argument. No thought involved whatsoever.

I’ve not tried to “make that out” I’ve made the point that me going to work bought home very little in return and not working achieves them same. But that there was and IS an expectation for employed mothers to return to work but not the same expectation of claimants.

You raised the topic of the German system being better, yet you're unable to even tell us anything about it?

These threads annoy me because many people on MN (probably due to their own bias) very rarely have any thought or consideration for working people, particularly women and working mothers.

Employment and society should work for them just as much as it’s supported people through UC and housing benefits for others.

This is why there’s such a divide, because people very rarely can see past their own experiences.

Why don’t you enlighten me? It would be great to see you contribute something useful to the thread.

@BlackCatGreyWhiskers

I used to think like you when I had a DH. Forgetting the family also had his income. I was jealous of my friend on benefits.

He left and I am now a single parent with a 1 year old and 8 year old. Living on ONE income. So I have to claim UC. If I went back to work now I couldn’t survive off of ONE wage and nursery for a one year old.

I will go back to work when little one is 2 or 3. But will still only have ONE income. So will receive a UC top up.

On ONE income (UC) I am not living a life of luxury, I cannot get a mortgage and am living in a high price rental that UC covers only £750, even when I go back to work I may still have to use a food bank. I don’t drink or smoke or have any luxuries, no holidays etc.

if you want to live off UC, leave your husband and find out how amazing it is! Some could say you have a luxury of a DH wages and a part time job. There is always someone better or worse off. If I found a new partner who was working I would lose the UC as he would be expected to share child care costs and bills. Like your husband does. UC is basically taking the place of the husband in most cases. My whole family budget is £1850 a month, my rent is £1,400 out of that. I can’t even afford swimming lessons for my son. Ex is a low earner so his maintenance does not cover much. I can’t even afford to fix my car so now have to rely on the bus. I can’t wait to go back to work.

But don’t the studies show that actually children from lower income households benefit greatly from nursery places, and it is why free hours are offered to them. However the work requirement isn’t there yet still.

I actually think that with the free hours being brought in from 9 months, that the three years leeway until you have to get a job will change

This not true, there is no law forcing you back to work. What you've done is taken a small extract about UC to fit your narrative. This only applies to Single mothers, if the partner is earning over the threshold then there is no work commitment at all for the other non working parent. UC claimants get exactly the same maternity pay as you have, either SMP or maternity allowance. In fact UC have the most deducted, for every pound over the work allowance, you pay tax, ni and then uc is reduced by 55p per pound. So in effect in any pound earned take home is around .32p. So the fact your not forced to claim to survive is an absolute blessing.

It’s not just ‘can’t be bothered’. People have no idea.

Imagine a mother with a two year old on a zero hours contract. She’d need to put that child in full-time nursery just to cover all bases in case she was called in on any particular day/time. UC will only cover the childcare for the hours that she was actually working that week. That could be 5 hours a week, or 35. If it’s five hours, who pays for the other 35 hours of nursery? It would cost more than her wages and UC combined.

Most unskilled jobs in retail/care/hospitality are zero hours. Care and hospitality are often unsociable hours when there is no childcare available. How would you suggest this problem is solved?

This is an unfortunate situation. Do you not have any other support such as family? Also if he is a low earner, how were you managing before you broke up and was a single parent? Did you consider any of this before deciding to have two children?

I am expecting this will be the case eventually