benefit changes??????????

[mummylou85]

Just wondering if anyone else is worried about changes in income support. I think by 2010 the age will be brought down to 7 if not found job benefits be stopped then if not found job it's job seekers? what do you all think of these changes. i'm happy towork but I have no family to look after my daughter? so in sept i'm goingback to finish my course in child care but what if I don't get job out of there. my daughter only 3 now but it's hard out there to get jobs these days especially to fit around children.

I know on job seekers you have to go on many courses, what if these are not child friendly but you have to go you get no money.

staying on benefits is not long term thing for me, I have worked payed taxes in past. but is anyone worried about future, in past didnt matter on what job i did and hours but now fitting it around my daughter. I really scared about job seekers are they child friendly. I stress about everything i'm sorry, but I think these changes take away your rights on how to parent I really think these changes in benefits wont work and i'm worried. i am stresser though x

and last I heard job seekers don't expect people to take jobs which are impossible for them to do just to get them off JSA. my DH isn't expected to apply for jobs that require "own transport" - as he doesn't have a car. So a lone parent I'm sure won't be expected to take a job working nights or other totally impractical hours.

they would simply have to be looking for work like anyone else on JSA - they may be lucky and find something in 3 months, it may take 3yrs - but all that will be expected of them is that they are actively seeking.

They're not saying "get your arse out of the door to work the day after your youngest turns 7 or get no money at all" - they're saying once your youngest turns 7 start looking for work.

prescisely Reality - as I stated further down (or up depending on which way you're reading it) childcare needs to be in place for those parents that need it. Once they introduce the 7yr thing and find that 3yrs later many lone parents are still searching for suitable work because of the lack of childcare they may finally get their arse in gear and get more options available to them.

How much effort is actually made to make sue people are actively seeking?

Is JSA the same amount of money as IS?

so are you saying that lone parents shouldn't have to work until their children leave school then? (with the chickenpox scenario - which could equally happen to the working poor where the previously SAHM has to find work due to financial issues and then gets fired because of your scenario, but doesn't even get any benefits to fall back on?)

I know several single mums with primary aged children, who work- one is a TA, one works in a pre-school so neither of them need holiday care. Another works in a sandwich bar, so lunchtimes only. One works part time in an office till 2.30 pm

DH and I are working poor. If the chicken pox scenario happened we would be able to take in turns to have time off. For example I could have the time off to start with and then return to work whilst DH has time off.

Its not comparable to a single parent

how much effort is made to ensure they're seeking work. They get a little book to fill in with details of where they've looked, phonecalls they've made, any applications they've sent off and any interviews they've been invited to attend.

From what DH says it's absolute piece of piss and only the most stupid/lazy people would fail to fill in enough details to keep JSA happy - and yes it's the same amount as IS.

Yes I'm a SAHM - a single SAHM claiming IS and (now thankfully at last now I'm eligble for it) HB and CTC with a "job" that pays so little (it equates to approx £1.21 an hour ) that doesn't even affect my IS.

I have no family close by (and given that I've had no contact with them at all since Christmas, and very little in the 10 months before that they'd be neither use nor ornament eve if they lived next. Actually even if we were on speaking terms they'd still be no use to me with my dad classed as a carer for my mum.

Reality,that's the reality!!! The chicken pox scenario happened to us earlier in the year. Thank god iwasn't workingcos straight after they all got tummy bugs!all in all over 6 weeks of ill kids and 2 calls from schools to go collect sick kids. If I'd have had a job then I would be lucky to still keep it, and even then I'd feel embarassed to return

even when I was in the "working poor" scenario - we couldn't have alternated time off. I wouldn't have been paid if I'd taken time off, and he wouldnt have got the (much needed as they formed the bulk of his income) commisions required for us to pay the bills.

I did once have to spend a few weeks off work due to sick children and we barely got through the month because of my lost wages (and the harassment and scapegoating at work was even worse when I got back )

But you did get through the month and you didnt lose your job - so not comparable to a lone parent with no supportr

I strongly disagree with the changes. Lone parents have enough to do, even those with older kids.

yes I've had him on the scene more regularly in the last month month and a half (the last month due to him being fired. Prior to that he could only have the DS's once a fortnight at the weekend (due to work which he couldn't get out of). Indeed even now he still only has them once a fortnight - but once he finds a new job of course that could well change.

He never did any babysitting or other childcare apart from those weekends - firstly he wouldn't, and secondly he couldn't.

yes we got through the month with more debts that we started it with.

You have your ears shut FAQ

or are we now saying that you're only a "proper" lone parent if your ex never has any contact with the children?

mutt I AM a lone parent. Or would you like to try and ring the benefit fraud line and tell them that I'm not...........might inspire me to tidy up before they come round to check and see that I am indeed what I claim to be.

Ex? But you refer to him as dh?