Living arrangements help

[laza222]

First of all apologies - I don't know if I am putting this in the correct place.

I am writing on behalf of my colleague who has recently become pregnant. She is only 18 but plans on keeping the baby. Unfortunatly the father isn't on the scene now so she is going to be taking care of this child on her own. She also has a rocky relationship with her own parents to the point where she left home when she was 17 and has been renting a room and fending for herself since then. Although she still has contact with them, she is not in the position where she could live with either parent. She is very keen to return to work after having the baby.

At the moment, her main concern is where she is going to live. She currently rents a room off of someone and these living arrangements won't be practical once the baby arrives. She also would rather not keep living there for the length of her pregnancy if possible as the person she lives with doesn't keep the house tidy and she is concerned she may get ill.

My main questions are:

1/ Does anyone know what she is entitiled to in terms of help with housing?
2/ Will she be entitled to help with child care once the baby is born?

She is going to see the council but I know that these things take so long sometimes and it would really just put her mind at rest if anyone could give her some advice.

Thanks.

Coucnil may put her in a hostel until they can rehouse her properly, it might not be an ideal situation but its a roof iver hear head. Your friend will b entitle to child benefit currently £18.10 and more than likely working and child tax credits. If she works over 16 hours a week she will get working tax credit and that can pay up to 80% of the childcare costs although the childminder does have to be registered with authorities etc. I hope this helps, you friend could go to citizens advice and they will be able to do calculations and give as much advice as they can.

i am a lone parent what she needs to do is get a letter from her midwife or doc to say that the condition she is living in could put her and her baby at risk and to give that to the council as for housing Ben depending on what she has coming in could could get some Ben but if she is on any Ben from the gov then it will be all pad tell her to go to the job center web site and it will tell her all she needs to know and have a look at the sure start web site all well they can be very help full

Thanks Shelleylou. Is that £18.10/week in child benefit? She does work over 16 hours a week - it's a full time position and to keep it I don't think she would be able to cut down her hours. Thanks for the help.

Thanks for your help Luke. That's a good idea about a letter. She is going to the doctors tomorrow so she can speak to her GP about it then.

ye it is a week, it will go up in april but dont know wat it changes to. How long has she had the job? and how far along is she?, this may have a bearing on how long she can have for maternity leave. The letter from midwife may or may not help its definately worth doing tho so council are aware ofher situation. glad i ould help

She has had the job since last April so about 10 months. I think that means she gets full maternity leave, doesn't it? She is about 6 weeks pregnant so not far at all. She is just in a panic about it all and her ex isn't helping much. He is very immature. Thank you for all your help. Although I'm five years older than her, I don't have kids myself so am pretty clueless on all of this!

Yes shell be entitled to 52 weeks maternity leave. 26 weeks statatory maternity leave which unless its changed from when i had my dsa is 90% of your income but the employers chooses so many weeks and its worked out from that or around £110. The additional maternity leave is unpaid however your friend will get her tax credits and child benefit for this period. She may aswell find out everything now i know Child benefit can be claimed from the day her child is born but not sure when she can apply for tax credits. Job centre and citizens advice will be able to give her the best advice.
I know you didnt ask about this but i thought it may help with you saying about your friends ex. If he is on the birth certificate he has joint parental responsibilty and has to have major decisions about the childs life discussed with him but he has to go to the registry office to register the birth aswell. I dont know if she wants child support from her ex and i know its far to early to think about really but if she does she should make sure that her ex is aware that he is the childs father. I think ive rambled on for long enough know. The l;ast paragraph i know a bit about as the parental responsibility is the bain of my life at the moment lol. Hope youve got everything you need, ill keep checking the thread to see if i can help awith any further queries.

Hiya, She went to the council yesterday. She has been told that they will put her in temporary housing for now and then should get something more permanent before the baby is born.

Thank you for the tip on parental responsibility. They have a bit of a complicated relationship. Well actually. for a pair of 18 year olds, they probably have quite a normal relationship, just with the complication of they have a child to think about now! He seems like a very sweet guy but quite immature. He really wants this child but they fell out because he was being lazy about getting a job. It is possible that they will get back together but we will see. She has told him that he needs to get himseslf sorted in terms of work if he wants to be involved. Thank you for the advice.

Ye thats the usual response from the council, its more of a case of youve got somewhere suitable to live but take their time giving you a house or flat incase you change your mind about the pregnancy etc. I was oin the council list 3 years and they offered me somewhere when my ds was 1. Its not a problem im glad i could help, the major decisions are the childs school healthcare etc. Your friend really does seam to have her head screwed on right, its admirable that shes putting her unborn baby first, shows shes got her priorities right. With having you for a friend i cant see her going wrong, uyou really do have her best intrest at heart shes lucky to have a mate like you.