single parent wanting to work advice

[heya123]

hi am a single parent to an 11 month old, 1 in 2 weeks and am looking to start working hopefully.
i am 19 and on income support atm but i want to give my son more as he is growing up and am really serious about this.
i need some advice though about childcare costs and tax credits ect... how could we best benefit because i need to be sure i can afford to work and that it would leave us at least slightly better off to do more things as hes growing up and treating him more ect....
also what about working in relation to housing benefit because i dont know how that works out either???
please help!!!!!

Make an appointment with your local job centre plus. They will help you look for a job, explain about tax credits, working tax credits, benefits etc and how working affects all of them. You will get a lot of your child care paid for being a lone parent.
Good luck.

thanks! will do that

heya123

You can also get some information here if you have easy access to the net.

You can claim housing benefit if you're working but I think the threshold is very low, I mean you don't have to be earning much before they stop it.

Good luck!

I registered as a c/m a year ago and it's the best thing for me. I was a nanny before I had my ds so childminding was an easy route to take.

2/3 of your earnings are disregarded before they work out your benefits.