To ask if you have a contingency plan, and what you;d do if you were us?

[cjt110]

I work in an office.

Cannot wfh, at present, until the company/government says so.

Son is 5 and at school.

Husband works in retail.

What are your plans if you fall ill, both of you? The only care we have is my Mum, who has COPD so the best is we would have to isolate with our son and hope we get it mildly...

I have been told if the schools close, i have to take hols or unpaid. As does my husband who works in retail,

For us in that situation it would be unpaid and using credit cards to subsidise us, hoping to do balance transfers or take a credit union loan after things pass to get us back on track. We actually have the equivalent of a years salary as available credit not that I would want to ever have to use that!

Didnt mean to sodding enable voting! Sorry

Isolate as a family if one of you gets ill, you have to do this anyway. Get sick pay from both employers from day 1. It’s unlikely that you’d both be very ill and unable to care for your son.

Ask mortgage provider or landlord for a payment holiday if you need to stop work when schools close. Get this started now if possible.

Consider seeing if another family in the same situation want to team up for childcare etc. then reduce your hours at work. I know of someone doing that on the continent. It’s better than using the grandparents but keeps social contact low. The down side is that if the other family get ill then you all have to isolate, but it’s less risky than the alternatives.

Would any of these work for you?