AIBU to not bother working

[Flocci]

I am totally pissed off at this situation I am now in.

I receive Carers Allowance for my dd who has SN which is just under £3000pa and very welcome it is since I gave up a very well paid job when the twins were born and we really need every penny.

Now I am trying to get gradually back into work for money reasons and also because twins are at school and I think why not? If I can work p-t around school and still do everything dd needs then it makes sense.

I have picked up some odds and ends on a self employed basis which come to about £2000pa roughly. It's hard to pick up bits which are flexible enough, but then I found an additional single job which will pay £3500 pa.

But now it turns out that if I take that job, my total income of £5500 is over the Carers Allowance threshold so I will automatically lose that benefit. This means that I will be working approx 15 hours a month in the new job and my total increase in earnings will be £500pa ie about £40 per month.

So why should I do it? There is absolutely no bloody incentive to work at all. I am trying to get back on my feet, but only some sort of nutter would take up a job that involved 15 hours per month and earned them £500pa.

How can the benefits system be so badly designed as to put people in this situation? Why not gradually taper benefits against earnings, rather than just having a fixed limit and a penny either side means all or nothing.

So what do you think?

Actually £2.78 per hour - but that is still crap. ( My maths isn't always so good considering my line of work )

i also work basically for free after paying 2 days child care, but my motivation is that my children are growing up seeing both their parents working for them and they are learning that you have to work for what you want in life, not everything is handed to you on a plate!

GM05 my children are also learning that you have to work hard for what you want in life, hence they hardly see their daddy because he works such long hours to support us all. They are also learning about choices and sacrifices: in our case I sacrificed my career and chose to be at home with them to make sure they both, but particularly dd who needs extra help, are always put first. I put that above having more money in my pocket. When they ask for things we can no longer afford then they are told that we don't always have enough money for everything they want.

I don't expect anything to be handed to me on a plate, and I don't believe that I have a right to sit at home on my arse while the state supports me and my children. I am trying to go out and work whilst still caring for my disabled child. That Carers Allowance compensates me for getting up 10 - 15 times each night amongst other things which make it hard for me to go out and earn money as I would otherwise wish during the day. So it seems unfair that when I try and earn some more that assistance is taken away.

yes it is unfair, particularly as there seems plenty who dont want to work.
your children will grow up well grounded as they will see the hard work you and your dh put in as a team for them.
and i dont believe you sit on your arse all day, not with 5, i assume like myself you refresh every half hour to check the latest post.

Could you not encourage your second job to offer to pay you £2,900 pa?

Can you check with the rules for Carers Allowance as they allow you to deduct some things such as possibly half of your payments into a pension fund - I am not sure what the rules are exactly but maybe you could do the work and put money into a pension for the future and be within their limits.

I am in a similar situation in many ways and had to sit down and work out lots of figures to see if I would be better off with a term time job but in the end it was very marginal and I have absolutely no family/emergency backup if I am needed for one of the DC (if one was ill during school time for example) so taking that into account I decided it was not worth it.

LTJ - that looks like the answer. I have proposed that I will do the job for a lower salary and the company who have been incredibly understanding are going to see if they can make up the difference somehow with some other perk. That way I also have the incentive to build up the self-employed side of things so maybe in another 12 months time the situation may be different and i can take the full salary and just ditch the CA benefit completely.

It's still ridiculous though.

I think I'd probably go for it. I'd see it as an interim period while I got back into work. I think long term it might pay off.

Excellent x

I agree Riven that the whole CA is a bit pathetic anyway. So many carers have no choice but to give up work totally and be "just" a carer, and as you say £50pw doesn't go very far does it?

Mind you, after I gave up work and my salary and started looking into benefits we were in such financial shock ( and still are for that matter ) that really every penny does count. When I was working £50 meant nothing to me, and now it is vital - funny how things change isn't it?

And don't get me started on how many people have without any sense of what they are saying said things like ooooh lucky you getting that benefit in your pocket. Yes, lucky ,lucky, lucky me.

Here Here Flocci! You cannot be considered lucky to have a disabled child for which you get £50 per week CA for. I would much rather have a healthy child and receive no CA. So, no, you are not lucky to receive CA.

Some people just dont think properly before they write ridiculous comments.

it is really difficult not to go over the 120 a week the government now say carers can earn, i became a foster carer because of this very problem.
being a child minder also can help but we don't always want to be wih neuro typical children as we struggle with our special needs ones it can be exhausting.. the dilemma continues