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?

It's cost more for the taxpayer to deal with the continuing harrassment from my friend's ex. She's on disability allowance due to PTSD as a result, had to be rehoused and moved out of the area. Still no money from the kid's dad as he's 'self-employed' and CSA can't trace his earnings.

That's bloody awful, smoky. You have to jump through an enormous amount of hoops to get them to drop the CSA case on an abusive man, but it's worth it if you can stomach it.

Most people can't of course and this is what happens

If you fail to satisfy them/prove to them the man will be worse if he's asked for money, they do cut your benefit by something like 20%. Lovely.

the 'self employed' rubbish needs to be changed!!

There needs to be a better system in place. But of course, that costs money to implement and this government doesn't want to know, even though the long-term pay-off could really yield dividends.

It's easier for them just to demonise groups of people and put them on JSA, take away jobs and then put the blame on those who are on JSA.

A crock of shite, but that's their plan.

Opheliarocks has the right idea.

If there are no suitable jobs or childcare available in your area , just go self-employed. Ebay, Avon, cleaning, babysitting, dog-walking - as long as it adds up to at least 16 hours per week on paper.

You don't have to make a profit. Many businesses run at a loss.

As long as you can say you are working 16 hours per week you will be eligible for full WTC and CTC + HB etc regardless of your actual income.

Simples.

see Mamatomany's post above about how she's had no Tax Credits for 13 weeks.

It's incredibly hard to prove, and it's all very well a large business running at a loss, but when running at a loss can mean the difference bewtween food on the table or not it's somewhat different.

Avon is VERY hard to do these days. The "patches" are much smaller, the market is saturated with reps.

I used to make around £300 a "cycle" approx 3-4 weeks. Worked around 20hrs a week, more on the weeks I had books to deliver and orders to take out, and has a MASSIVE area to cover, oh and most of the work was in the evenings as that's when my customers were at home.

These days you're lucky if you get a single street, and I know round here gyms, GP surgeries, schools, nurseries etc have already been "claimed" by other reps.

If you get a big street with plenty of occupants (I had some streets where the houses were almost all empty!) you might be able to make £100 roughly a month - if you were lucky.

I'm glad I didn't have to try and prove my income from my Avon when I did it to WTC, and especially to housing benefit - would have been an absolute nighmare

Tbh it is hard enough trying to prove your income when you are employed never mind self employed.

I should still be entitled to some HB, but they want that many things from me to prove my income, that I ended up on the phone to them in tears.
I now have an appointment at my neighbourhood office on Friday to try and sort it out.

I have bank statements, my first wage slip but it is only for 2.5 weeks, not a whole month, and I have a letter from work saying how many hours I do and how much I earn, but apparently this isn't enough. The letter must say my exact wages, and NI and pension contributions. HR have said that they don't issue letters like that.

I wish I could afford to pay all of the rent myself because it is a bloody nightmare trying to sort it all out.

I'm a LP and I work part time for a pittance. I have a complicated network of CMs set up and the arrangements sometimes keep me awake at night - if one falls ill then there is a mad scramble to find a substitute. My employers are not family friendly in fact (though they pretend they are, they are not). I work over my hours every week by several hours and can rarely do this work at home so have to pay extra childcare WTC/CTC help towards childcare doesn't pay towards overtime (which is unpaid, I am suppposed to take time of in lieu but if I ask for it am told they are too busy and no I can't). Last week I paid a CM £26 to attend a compulsory training course on my non-working day which involved a 1.5 hour round trip.

No one seems to have mentioned taht part time jobs are notoriously low-paid. Employers take advantage of the fact women are more likely to want PT. Your career prospects are also diminished and your pension contributions lower. Anyone on CTC/WTC might get their crappy wages made up a bit but you don't earn extra pension.

Like I said, I do work and I found a job within 3 weeks of X actually leaving (live in a big city which helps, but it is in the north so future prospects are not bright, oh and did I mention that I work for the council so my job is probably going to disappear and then I will have to give up my childcare which will then get snapped up by someone else. Then when I find something else, I start the complete f*(&^g nightmare of trying to set up more childcare. I have no family help at all. This is half term. I wasn't allowed leave. Kids need full time care - cost £185 for the week. My take home for same week - £165. And the bastard ConDems are cutting childcare help by 10%

Thanks George Osborne

Rant over

I'm just finishing an early years degree and will, all being well, be able to do my masters next year. But as my DD will turn 5, I will have to work in September if I can't get enough funding to study so childminding is about my only option. Never mind out of hours childcare - there isn't a registered childminder in our village or the next or the next and then not one that would take her to the village school. I can (and will) fill that gap by registering to childmind myself but it's not exactly what I trained for .

I worked until recently at the local FE college and many mothers were quite open that they were doing courses as their IS would be ct off otherwise - I assume because their children reached the age limit. I guess we'll just see much more of that.

What about when your dc reaches 11yo? What childcare then? My DD has SN, and even now at almost 13yo, I wouldn't be able to leave her at home alone. There is NO local childcare for children above primary school age in my town. Regardless of their issues. And dd isn't classed as disabled enough for DLA, or for me to get carers allowance. But yet, she is not responsible enough to be left alone. I thank my lucky stars that DP works FT, but due to his low wage, we are reliant on WTC/CTC/HB to survive.

When my son starts school I will still only be able to do weekend work. I have no family around me so who would look after him when school is on holiday? I can't afford childcare. My husband works away a lot as well. I am currently not working as there are simply no jobs in my area just for weekend work and even the few cleaning jobs that there are want experience. I have no experience whatsoever in cleaning and I have been out of work so long that I will find it very hard to actually get a job.

I don't claim benefits either, not entitled because of how much my husband earns.

I'm in a simelar situation to that Loudlass, my ds is 11 and has AS, and I can't see him being able to be left any time in the foreseeable future. We wouldn't qualify for DLA I don't think. I guess in situations like that the diagnosis of SN would have to be enough and we'd still have to be able to find work during school hours.

Mrsoliver if you run a household then surely you have experience of cleaning?!

The problem of what you do when they get to 11 is an issue for everyone who works. I have a 3.5 hour roundtrip commute so am out of the house minimum 8 to 6 and often 7 to 7. Too long for an 11 yr old to be left on his own. Before/after school care goes to 12. I have a few years to worry about it but I'm honestly thinking of state boarding school if Ds would like to go.

why dont they prioritse 'back to work'?
Child free men and women
Absent fathers (its not like they have any childcare duties and many arent paying for their kids)
One parent froma non-working couple
Then sinle parents

And provide decent childcare.
I read the chldcare vouchers are being stopped.

Mrsoliver would you not be able to afford childcare if you worked?

if you do your own housework at home then you have cleaning experience

I wouldn't be able to afford it. We live near London and although my husband earns £44,000 a year, we just about scrape by. I know that is going to sound rubbish to some people but it is true. If I worked it would be to pay the childcare costs so why should I? We had to relocate down here or husband would be out of a job. It is just so expensive living down here. Our CB will be stopped in 2013 as well which will make it worse.
I have experience cleaning my home but they want experience cleaning offices and places llike that.

Well how else are you going to pay for yourself and your child?? Oh yes. The good old taxpayer. Why 5? Who is paying until the kid is 5?

Why should the Government support people not to work when their children are in school. The coalition is proposing that single parents should be made to look for suitable work, they are not going to force them into jobs that aren't suitable.

I live in London so I am fully aware of the childcare and other costs - however as you do not claim any benefits surely this change is not going to affect you mrsoliver? With regard to working just to cover childcare costs,well, there are benefits you know like not being dependant on your partner, contributing to the economy, better future pension etc.

There are plenty of private households looking for domestic cleaners, you don't necessarily have to clean offices.

I don't think they should be pushed into it. I have a friend who has 2 DC over the age of 5, she is a lone parent. She does the work of both parents as the Dads are useless. So she runs the house/garden/helps with homework etc and also helps with school and volunteers in the community. She wants to work when she feels she can manage and when a job coms that she can fit round the kids needs. She does not get wedges of money, it's actually very little. Most lone parents work anyway with older children (I read 70%), why should they be forced out to work just becuase the man cleared off or was useless? Help should be there for work and training for those ready but they shouldn't be forced into unsuitable work which is what I fear may happen.

so you think that its fair that i have to pay extra tax out of the money i earn so your friend doesn't have to work unless she wants to???!!! many married men are useless and the woman still has to run the house - mine's ok but works away from home so i manage all the things you mention work 4 days a week and pay tax so your friend doesn't have to work!!

Why would you think they would be forced into unsuitable work jellybeans?

Plenty of Dads that are around are useless too, they don't help with homework, housework etc. Sometimes because they are useless, sometimes because they work long hours and commute so the children are in bed by the time they get home.

''Why should they work just because the man cleared off or was useless?'' For all the reasons stated above!

The man should be made to pay too ffs!

Why should the already overstreched tax budget pay for someone who chooses to have children but can't be bothered to work to take even a little bit of the burden off the state?

Of course more should be done to ensure that fathers pay maintainence. Even if they are paying towards the upkeep I still think that single mothers should be made to look for work once their child is 5, unless they can afford to not rely on the state.

My friend is in this situation but point blank refuses to put her DDs (9+11) in after school care. She has 'paedophile paranoia' and wont leave her girls with anyone other than family and close friends, not even at birthday parties. She leaves them at school, though, which makes me and . FTR she goes back to bed when they're at school.