When is it worth going back to work?

[Lizita]

Hi everyone. Playing with the idea of going back to work. dd is almost 2 and so isn't eligible for a free nursery place yet.
In your experience, how many hours/how much do I need to earn in order to make it worth it (financially, that is)? From what I've worked out so far, I'm better off staying on benefits... esp as I don't want to go back to work full time for a good while yet, because I want to spend a good amount of time with dd.

at £360 per week tax credit

her childcare costs are well over £200 per week for two kids so this is abig part of it, i was shocked too until she broke it down for me.

The only thing is, there have been two members of this board who I can think of who were loan parents and whose tax credits got so screwed one was served an eviction notice. Another couldn't pay her childcare costs. The credits took months and months to set up.

We are a working poor couple and my husband was a SAHD until they said they 'overpaid' us - b/c of clerical errors they made, long story, but we have written proof the mistakes were theirs. So they cut us off w/nothing and we were living below the poverty line, taking home £200/month less than DH's sister, who is on benefits.

I'll never, ever vote Labour.

You can play around with hours and find how to get the best from tax credits here

Also if you have been claiming income support for over 12 months and decide to go back to work for over 16 hours a week you will get;
run on of housing and council tax benefit for 4 weeks
£100 of vouchers to buy clothes for when you start
£250 grant to get you started
and £40 a week on top of your wages and benefits for the first year.

The Government will always try and make it more beneficial for you to work than stay at home.

HTH

I agree with expatinscotland, Tax Credits are a joke. I went back to work when dd was 2.5 months as was temping, and full-time job came up and had to start then to get the job.

I'd recommend finding an employer who uses a childcare voucher scheme, the rules changed in April this year and my employer recently started using vouchers after email campaign by working parents. I get the maximum £217 per month of my salary paid in vouchers which means I gain £80 per month from tax/NI.

i must say i prefer bumptobabies idea of just doing a course i know i'd enjoy without worrying about a career etc but i can't help having the attitude of expat, worrying about what opportunities it'll give me afterwards. Sounds like you have had a success story bump wish that'd happen to me! Funnily enough i have wondered about doing something pg or baby/child related, u kind of get obsessed after having a kid! But actually whenever I think of any possibility my confidence always let me down "oh i couldn't do that".
Pathetic really.

you can have all those things after being on benefits for 6 months elsmommy, apart from the £40 bonus. i would love to go back to work now but have only been unemployed for a month so cant get any help at all.

btw lizita, think i forgot to mention. new benefit claims go through the jobcentre now (im assuming this is the same in all areas?) and it is A LOT harder to get back on benefit if things dont work out. there is so much paperwork to fill in its unreal. you have to phone the main call centre. then they will make an appoitment to call you back to do your claim over the phone. when thats done you have to go for an interview at jobcentre where they will tell you about all the other things you need for your claim. its a joke. of course, none of this will run smoothly. they sent me to the wrong jobcentre, gave me about 5 different appoitments and callbacks and i still havent received a penny in benefit!

What a nightmare. I don't even remember now who I had to go through etc. dd is almost 2 so I don't know if it was the job centre when I first claimed or not... i got so confused about who did what and when I should claim etc.
That was another reason i didn't do that 12 hour a week job in the end - it was only temporary and would've been a nightmare re-applying for benefits.

The government have been mouthing off about getting mums back to work, but as far as I can tell, if you're a couple you're PUSHED back to work cos you can't afford not to, if you're a single mum you're forced to stay at home because you can't afford to go to work! Drives me mad. We should all have the freedom & support to make the choice ourselves. We are, as parents, after all doing THE most important thing in the world - bringing up the next generation.

Rant over!!

hi Lizita....I undertand where you are coming from.....when you are on benefits you get your council tax and housing etc paid for but on the down side the payments you get for you and kids each week are a let down...it is a real dilemma weighing up the pros and cons of it all. It is hard as when you work you have to pay for all this and more so i can totally understand how you are feeling. You do get a childcare allowance from the inland rev and can be quite good so check it out...

the government yes...whats the point of all this help being "available" if no-one can actually use it without having to deal with a trail of cock-ups!!

just wanted to say also for fear of looking ungrateful, that the tax credits, back to work grants, childcare allowance etc etc ARE good...and WOULD be good...if only you ever get them. 3 months down the line is no use when you have bills to pay, late charges added on and are being threatened with eviction (as i also am at the moment)....gotta go...gotta go...will rant about this forever given the chance.....

totally agree nightowl the is some help but it is nightmare to receive and the hassle it takes

i just dont understand why it takes so long...ok maybe, they have a LOT of claims to deal with. but...how can they make SO many mistakes? at one point they were insistent that i had three children (i have two)....are they TRYING to give me nightmares?!!!!!

lizita you can do what you want,i know sometimes it dosnt feel like it.
i suggest thinking about all the things you enjoy ie cinema, music whatever then think of courses related to that i mean a short course then look into it, now is the perfect time you could enroll and be up and running by sept you will meet people some wont have children which can be a breathe of fresh air.
if you are anything like me you need to work on your confidence before getting a job otherwise you wont stick at it.
theres no reason why you couldnt do two short courses eg computers and jewlwery making or whatever your interest and a computer one so you dont feel left behind.
only some ideas
you can do it
the courses and childcare wont cost a penny
also do you live in a sure start area as they take on parent volunteers to do allsorts and they pay for your lunch and travel and cover childcare, i also did this i set up a support group for woman with postnatal depression
but you could just help out in the office whatever really.
oh i rant again.

No you're not ranting, it's very helpful. I just need a kick up the backside. Plus I go on holiday for a week next week so not sure I can get it all sorted for Sept...
Excuses, excuses!

Holiday? Haven't been able to afford one of those in years. Maybe we should go on benefits . . .

I can't afford it either expat. REALLY stressing out about money. If i knew then (when we booked it) what i know now I don't think I'd've gone ahead with it. But, glad it's happening, can't wait. Going with a bunch of friends, hiring cottage in cornwall , so that makes it a bit cheaper. Will be a long time till the next one i tell you...

nightowl totally agree with your post

Thought I'd let you know I've just applied on line for a 1 morning a week computer course. Just to brush up on my skills... never did a computer course, always learnt on the job, so it should help my confidence if i ever apply for a job... I am going to think hard & look at some prospectuses for another part time course in something i actually enjoy!

good for you Lizita......

well done,let us know what you decide