Financial support/benefits for WFH FT lone mum on £35K?

[ChasingRainbows14]

Recently separated from my husband and going through divorce proceedings. I’m fortunate, as things are (currently) very amicable. We have 2 children - 10 and 8 yo.

I work full time and my salary is £35K, which fortunately is allowing me to remain in the family home with the kids for now (as long as the informal cm payments, that we established and agreed from the cm website continue).

From a benefits and financial support perspective, I want to find out as a lone parent if I might be entitled to anything to help supplement our living costs and after school /out of term time childcare payments.

I appreciate my salary is higher than the thresholds for the more obvious benefits that are available, but eager to find out if there’s anything I might be able to tap in to.

TIA :)

I think it would be worth looking into universal credit. I don't know if you'd be entitled to anything. Some many different factors are considered whether you rent, how much your childcare costs are, how many children you have etc.

A benefits calculator website:

www.entitledto.co.uk/

I would check just in case but on that salary I doubt you would be entitled and you also have no rent element to take in consideration if you were to apply for UC.

35k plus CMS is not a low income.

There's a government benefits tracker but I think you're above the threshold.

I'd expect you to get something, there was a thread a couple of weeks ago and someone on £50k was entitled to help which surprised me considering child benefit begins to drop at that figure.

Have a check anyway. CM isn't taken into account when it comes to benefits.

I’m on exactly the same wage as you and am entitled to no help as a single parent. It’s not a particularly high wage especially when you are the sole earner in the household but it’s perfectly manageable as long as the mortgage or rent is not too high. You will get child maintenance which helps.

I still get nice holidays and am able to save a small amount each month but I do have to watch where it goes as a lost £10 makes a dent.

Actually having a look it seems the benefit cap is 20k outside of London. Obviously there are variables.

That's a bit low isn't it? Im not that clued up on UC

Put your figured into the entitled to website. You will need your wages & any childcare costs. If you paid rent I would suspect you would get help it not with a mortgage.

The benefit cap is applied to claims where no one is in work so wouldn’t apply here. I also suspect the PP doesn’t know what the benefit cap actually is.

@gamerchick the benefit cap is a cap on the benefit figure not the amount you can earn and it doesn’t apply if you earn over a certain amount anyway.

@ChasingRainbows14 I love Mumsnet but for benefit advice it is not helpful. Citizen’s Advice is the best place to go for advice.

I am on lower than you and I’m not entitled to anything but that doesn’t mean you won’t be as it depends if you pay childcare fees or if you live in London.

Do a UC claim online and even if you get nothing it will be set up for if your circumstances change.

I was on a slightly lower income which varied month by month and UC automatically worked out my payments which was really good.

If you have childcare costs or rent you may be entitled to some universal credit. It's definitely worth a look at the entitledto website. You enter all of your details and it will calculate if you are entitled to any benefits.

Clear as mud but thankyou

always give it a shot imo. You don't know until you try.

You're entitled to Tax Free Childcare once you're under 100k, basically a saving of 20% you can use it on after school clubs

Not sure there's anything else.

Just child benefit and tax free childcare unless you or the children have any disabilities

You'll be entitled to child benefit and possibly some help with childcare. 25% discount on council tax as a single person also. Use the entitled to calculator online to check

If you rent in the South and have childcare costs then most likely UC. If just childcare then tax free childcare.
muse this website it's the only accurate one for UC. Entitled too etc is way off re UC.
www.uceplus.co.uk

*use

@gamerchick the clue is in the name- benefit cap. No relevance to the op as she earns too much for the cap to apply.

You were confusing benefit cap with maximum amount of earnings before you lose entitlement to benefits.

Probably better not to refrain from posting on a benefit query thread when you clearly don’t understand the benefit system.

Sorry. That should say- better to refrain from…..

The cap doesn't apply if you work over 16 hours a week.

Good advice op. Entitled to is a great site.

I did it out of interest a few weeks ago and as a homeowner on a £39k it was just CB and tax free childcare I could claim, possibly a small amount of UC (forget the figure but so little it wasn't worth applying).

Can post where I want to thankyou. I was musing and I also said, twice to give it a shot anyway.

@TigerRag
Not sure where you got 16hrs from (probably some rule from the old legacy benefits).
Exemptions to the cap are explained on gov.uk
www.gov.uk/benefit-cap/when-youre-not-affected
The op would be applying for Universal Credit. The income related exemption to the cap is based on earning at least £658 a mth. No mention of 16hrs.

Sorry the link just didn’t copy correctly but it’s all on gov.uk just search benefit cap.

Also all the current, correct, benefit rules are there too.