what am i entitled ttoo

[prettyfly1]

i have slogged and worked full time since my son was born last year - fed up with it now - after childcare i end up with next to nothing and i never see my son. what would i get financially if i didnt work??

[Caligula]

Don't know, but have you thought of seeing if you can do part time work? You might find htat you're not much worse off than full-time (because of tax credits) but you have more time for yourself and your DS. Would your employer be prepared to negotiate on hours?

[prettyfly1]

hi there, yes and they agreed, however when i phoned the council and tax credits people i would be on so much less i couldnt cover my bills.

[Caligula]

Even though they pay most of your childcare costs? Bummer.

I think the thing to do is work out exactly what your income would be on the dole and exactly what it would be working part time, then factor in work costs (like transport, childcare etc) and see if it's worth it.

\link{http://www.entitledto.co.uk\this site} might give you the answers to how much you'd get on the dole.

[Mum2OneAndOneMore]

Do you rent your property?

You would get income support for yourself which is about £55 a week, then you would get child tax credit for your son which is about £46 a week & you would get all your rent paid & no council tax.thats it i believe, this is what my friend gets now as she has just moved out & is divorcing her husband.

[Caligula]

Actually they only pay "most" of your childcare costs if you're on a really low income. If you were on a higher one, ironically, you could easily be worse off.

Sometimes taking a very low paid job with only 16 hours, will leave you better off than a reasonably well-paid one pro-rata at 20 hours.

[prettyfly1]

it doesnt actually even matter if i get a higher paid jb, because i cant actually earn any more - so fed up with it all now and i am going to uni in sept so i jsut dont want to keep slogging away and being penalised for it while missing my son. i love working but i am jsut not prepared to do this anymore when it seems so unfair.

[prettyfly1]

lol- i would never cope not working in all honesty but i cant believe that even in a decent paid job like mean i would get more not working. it seems ridiculous. thats not a dig at stay at home mums, just a rant at how tough it is to try to dig your way out of the poverty trap.

[Loobie]

You would be entitled to income support for yourself and child tax credits for your DS,plus his child benefit of £17 a week.If renting you would be entitled to housing benefit,coucil tax benefit,(i pay only £17 a month ten months of the year)milk tokens for children under 5,free dental treatment and prescriptions and eye care.HTH

[Loobie]

BTW if you chose to become a childminder a huge amount of your earnings is not counted in your benefits,normally you can earn something lke £15 before it affects benefits ,if the earnings come from childminding then i think its something like about £80 before it affects anything,mainly because the government is trying to encourage childminding to help them with the lack of childcarers.

[Caligula]

Dn't blame you. But £105 a week or whatever it is, including child benefit, does sound like a pittance to live on, even if you do get your rent paid.

If you got a 2 day a week job paying a pittance, the govt would throw tax credits at you because you're a single parent. Honestly, I work 16 hours a week and the government gives me more money in tax credits than I would get if I were on the dole. The idea that single mothers working saves the country money, is rubbish in my case - I cost the country far more money doing a paid job, than I would if I were on the dole. And I am much better off than if I were on the dole, plus I do get to see my children a lot. Does it have to be all or nothing? Is it possible to get low-paid part time work in your area?

[Bugsy2]

What do you do prettyfly1? Could you work part-time? I know it would be less income, but you wouldn't have so much in terms of childcare costs.

[prettyfly1]

iwas offered part time - not financially viable.