Lone parents - universal credit / changes to working hours re. budget / Jeremy Hunt?

[catsinwater]

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/mar/22/jeremy-hunt-universal-credit-benefits-mothers-30-hour-weeks

Anyone read this yet? Although my child is 10 it could have a massive impact on my life as a working single parent. I feel really sorry for the people with younger children, it's difficult enough for many lone parents to work the 16 hours a week (I struggled with health issues and stress related to the burden of being a LP when my son was younger and it's not even easy now so goodness knows trying to do 30 hours a week).

I am really worried about this!

I am just about getting by and work a lot of hours in my self employed job but am worried that I will be made to take a job for less money to push me up to the difference of 30 hours, which will set my career back massively as well as my mental health and reduce my hourly wage etc (even if I am working more hours).

What do others feel about it?

Are single parents with disabled children going to be exempt from this? I currently work 21 hours, really couldn't manage anymore. Have absolutely zero help from anyone

throw so you had one child and a parent who was willing to have them. You were incredibly lucky to be in that position. Most of us have no support.

themat the birth rate dropping would be the ultimate fuck you and serve them right.

I’m self employed too
is this changing the minimum income floor for us?

Oh wow
30 up from 16?

my friend works in a warehouse two days a week

has to start at 6am then get back for school pick up

the warehouse made a special deal to let her do 6-2

it sure she would do that shift daily as she has to let the dad who has kids every other week take the kids those two days

with this she’s probably have to find another job but what about childcare? She already knows boy has her kids every other week court ordered

dads a cabbie so can pick his hours out of 24 a day

she’ll hardly see her kids
dad will probably end up with full care of them with this

I feel awful for her and women like her

We desperately need employers to be more flexible too, allow people to pick up and drop off from school and still get their hours in.

I don't know what the solution is to the whole situation to be honest but it seems very weighted against single parents with no support. I feel like they are assuming that everyone claiming benefits is trying the diddle the system which really isn't the case.

Now your post makes me happy.

If it helps I’m self employed with a child of 7
my MIF is 1114 equals 25 hours at minimum wage

I work half that though so thankfully another five hours is easy to make up as it’s only one extra hour a week

it’s women in minimum wage jobs who’ve managed to juggle hours and childcare who will suffer and for that reason I hate this

In a lot of countries you would have to live with your parents if you were a single mother as there are no benefits for single mothers.

I worked full time after maternity leave and I’m angry about this. Working 30 hours week is only possible if you are a high earner that can afford nursery fees and have support for nursery runs; or earn even higher to afford nanny fees.

I earned much more than the nursery fee back when my children were younger, but I can’t do both pick up and drop off with a commute. DH and I shared the responsibility. We also work flexible enough for sick days. Even with WFH now, DH and I still get in office days and we cover for each other.

This is punishment for women for sure.

UK is not a 3rd world. Its not just single mothers it's a WHOLE issue for everyone living in a 3rd world Country with no benefits and a corrupt government.

I'm not sure why you have gone off topic concentrate on UK where we live! That's the real issue. Further more UK is quick enough to let many over seas people in and they too claim every benefit going so let's not even go down that road and turn this on single mothers.

Does it mention if they are over 12 but disabled so can’t be left?

I work full time and receive universal credit. I can't afford not to work full time as I don't get housing help (unconvinced having a mortgage is a good thing but don't want to move DC).

DC at after school club every day. Their life is exhausting. Youngest rarely does homework as so tired when he gets home.

I claim back 85% of the costs costs. Shame the system is willing to pay others for the childcare. Doesn't really make sense to me.

'Don't have kids if you can't afford them'

Have you ever thought maybe people's circumstances change?

@whataballbag her mother looked after her DC. She won't disclose her age but yet she's making "claims" about how she struggled pfffttt. It doesn't sound like a struggle to me pulling others down @Throwncrumbs you were fortunate you have a cheek!

What I should add is I don't think it's good to force more children into wraparound care with an exhausted mum.

It is a third-world country. Look at the state of everything.

@taxpayer1 UK is not a 3rd world Country. What 3rd world Countries have you visited? Where are your parents and grandparents from origally?

There's a thread currently.... where is all the money going from the sky high gas and electric where is it going? Because a raise is one thing.... but doubling prices is taking the piss.

Things were NOT this expensive in the 90s!

I've tried it all, part time to 50+ hours a week. I was a professional, got promotion and was doing well.

I have an autistic teenager, and have had years of meltdowns and stress every time I leave for work.

Childcare hassles, and paying ridiculous money for childcare. Extra payments for family to look after the kids when it was weekends.

Lifting kids out of bed at 6am and picking them up at 10pm. They were knackered and so was I.

Then I burned out, so lower pay and more hours. My future is fucked, I won't be able to afford to live. Shit pension contributions, shit pay.

And still dealing with a teenager who can't cope with life, and wondering if they'll be dead when I get home from work. And still being kept awake at night.

The maintenance payments are reduced for the kids of his new wife. He does none of the hard work, and his career took off as he doesn't have any childcare worries.

The government is happy to make women suffer and work. While men are free to fuck off and pay little.

Suspect I’ll get fried for this but it’s not unreasonable to work 30 hours a week whilst your child is in education. Fair enough if your child is ill/ has additional needs that make it challenging.

Im a single parent and had a series of rubbish jobs when I first separated. Housekeeper in a care home 9-3, housekeeper in hotel 9-3 type stuff. Mon- Fri. 30 hours a week and I’d shovel down some free lunch. Retrained and now have a better job and work full time. Money is not fab but I do core hours when I see clients/ meetings/ phone appointments. Follow up admin can be done whenever so I can finish at 3 do school pick up, extra curricular stuff, homework/ tea and then work 7-9.

I think that you’re better to think about what sort of role could work for you and then make a plan of achievable goals. I know when I became a single parent I was very much in crisis mode and physical jobs like housekeeping are exhausting. It’s really hard to see that you can have options and life could be better when you are exhausted, skint and stressed.

This could be helped massively by absent parents stepping up and paying maintenance and taking on some of the burden of regular childcare. I hope they will also be pushing for this. Also courses to help women back into the workplace rather than hoping they will fill in the carers/hospitality/ retail jobs that no one else wants to do.

@PopethYnIawn really sorry. You sound like a fab mum.

I hope I don't make you feel bad or cause offense it's not a dig at you at all. I'm just saying in general a high flying job is not worth sacrificing your own mental health at the end of the day it's you who will be suffering. You do what you need to do!

30 hours per week plus commute time for the mum - will this be more than the core school hours? Maybe this change goes along with the core school hours being extended though the schools I've applied for currently have a shorter week around 31 hours for reception children. I know some children do well with after school clubs but mine will find the school day itself exhausting let alone a club on the end. It's not the same as home where they feel fully relaxed and safe. This change isn't about what's best for the children. It's very worrying.

My son would absolutely not have coped with 30+ hours of childcare a week from age 3 either. It's not a case of 'normal children' who can cope on one hand and children with serious disabilities and conditions on the other, there's a whole spectrum of needs and personalities and parents should be able to choose what's best for their child, within reason.

People saying - "Don't have children if you can't afford them" - where's the empathy for those whose lives change unexpectedly? And just generally the birthrate would be very low if only those who could afford it with no state support had children.

Sorry everyone else affected by this change.

Will the new free childcare also be for term time only/38 weeks a year. So stretched that means 22 hours a week avg plus commute either side.

I do think there should be help, but to work 16 hours a week is a piss take, maximum benefits for minimum work, that’s what is objectionable. That 3.15 hours a day for 5 days….that’s just pathetic!

Yes I don't think that is fair. I am a lone parent. I have children with disabilities. I've worked full time since both were 6 months old. No family help. No UC. No child benefit. Extortionate childcare costs. I don't think it's right I should be taxed so heavily so that other people can have more time with their children, when we are really struggling for money.

In my opinion a better approach would be to reduce the UC taper rate and give single parents the same tax allowances that a couple get so they aren't taxed more on the same household income. Improve childcare funding for everyone, make that and child benefit universal again.

Make work pay for single parents basically so that it's feasible to have a decent standard of living from it. At the moment, a lot of the time, I wonder why I've bothered to work myself into the ground like this so we can have less net pay than a couple with the same household income because I'm taxed more, on top of needing more childcare and paying for that.

And what if you have none?? That is not a solution. The solution is to tax us fairly and provide proper childcare and flexible work opportunities. The tax system makes me so angry. Other countries do not do it this way. Obviously we have a disadvantage anyway with limited time to earn the money to pay everything so will always be poorer but to tax me more than a couple on the same household income as well so I keep less of my earnings than they can it just grossly unfair.

You are misunderstanding the 35 hours if your child receives dla care middle or care and you look after her for more than 35 hours in a week you qualify as she is disabled for all those 35 hours.