Lone parents expected to seek work when kids are 5?

[champagnesupernova]

Just catching up on yesterday's news and saw this and was surprised there wasn't anything about this on here already

What do you think?

I think its a good move, once children are of school age why shouldn't single parents look for work?

great....no real difference to age 7....except where are all the jobs?? and the childcare???

who will look after my ds age 12 and my dd age 14 as they clash violently and cant be trusted together after school home alone?

Five is too young - I don't know what age isn't, and I don't know what the answer is, but I do think five is too young to be effectively forced into before/after-school care.

Although it would add an extra bit of spice to all the arguments on here about the inconvenience of school hours, with 'school isn't childcare' being trotted out over and over again. Actually, the government seem to think it IS ...

Well thats' something you'll have to sort out for yourself. You can't really expect to be exempt from working becasue your teenagers don't get on. How is that different from me and my husband having to leave our teens home alone after school. Maybe they'll grow up and learn to get on when you do go out to work

i would think the after school/breakfast clubs will be at risk of closing? with the extra cuts.

Durham...i wasn't being serious lol,chill!!

I don't think that you should be allowed not to work just because your teenage children don't get on Sprinkle.

Oh well if you don't put a smilie face or a grin I don't know when you are being serious!! You have to spell it for me, I'm a bit slow on the uptake

Cant see why it's a bad thing. Not read article but can't see why you can't work once your child is at school, single or in a couple. Fine if you can financially support yourself without relying on the state for you to be at home whilst kids in school but otherwise..

5 isn't too young - my DS has been in childcare since he was 7 months and is a very happy well-adjusted child. If you can afford to stay home, fine but you shouldn't expect the state to support you if you can work but choose not to.

Because putting a five yr old reception kid in childcare from 7.30 to 6pm is shit
it's not tge sane as nursery where the kids sleep in the afternoons and get cuddled etc
my ds went to aftersch club for two days a week
it was full of older kids who wanted to play footie , ride bikes etc
he was knackered and the workers said ge was falling asleep in his afterschool snack
then I'd pick him up , get home for 6.30 and have to cook him dinner when he was ready for bed :(
five it too young for wrap around care IMO

You don't have to find work with an employer, you can go self-employed as well - which would include ebaying, Avon etc. Many mums around here do the minimum 16 hours which fits in with school and use tax credits to top up.

Any lone parents who are getting Carer's for disabled children will be exempt from this as they can get IS due to being a Carer instead of as a lone parent. DS has ADHD and there's no suitable childcare for him, so that's a relief for me.

At my last work focused interview, I was told that lone parents would be expected to seek work within school hours only. My advisor said she knows that most jobs aren't that flexible and they're expecting most parents just to switch to JSA instead of IS, so they have to sign on once a fortnight and write a CV etc, but otherwise it's not a major change for many lone parents around here.

Don't think its a bad thing, after a quick read through, it does say that they only have to take jobs 'that fit in with school day' so don't think people will be 'forced' to take unsuitable jobs. If there are no jobs then they will still get benefits, why can't people work when kids are at school?

jobs that fit in with the school day???

so does that mean these jobs give 6 weeks off in the summer,2 weeks at xmas and easter and 2 half term weeks too then??

So dinner lady then
even a teacher or teaching assistant would be no good unless it was at the same school as your five year old

Unless you can afford to stay at home you absolutely should go back to work when your youngest is 5. In fact one is very lucky to be able to stay at home until that age in the first place.

Good point Sprinkle, although that is what it said, not sure how they would manage that

Covering school holidays is hard for all families, it's a constant juggling act, not ideal but it's what you have to do to support your family.

How about holiday clubs sprinkle?

not here for us mingg.....fairly rural,and they dont exist!!

thinking of childminding to be honest. not looked into it yet tho

You cannot expect the Government to allow you to stay at home and not work once your children are of school age.

bigchris - my DS quite often falls asleep eating his snack. It might not be ideal but there are lots of things you can do to earn a living that don't mean you have to put your child in afterschool club every single day. How about a childminder?

leandro.......schoolage or not,many of us DO work anyway. its just a small change to guidelines,and like i said,i dont see much difference between 5 yrs and 7 yrs

Then start one sprinkle, seems like there is an opportunity there.

I'm a single mum and I work and have done since dd was 6 months so I agree with you Spinkledust.