what am i entitled to? stressing out

[ScottishSmurfette]

Im just wondering what i can claim for as i have no clue!
I was working full time before i went on maternity but because i wasnt with the company long enough i didnt get any maternity money from them, just the standard statutory maternity allowance. That has now ended so all i get is my 80 something child benefit a month. I wasnt planning goin back to work but i am stressing out because i have a loan that needs paid off... i have savings so i dont know wether to use all that and pay off my loan. Im thinking about gettin a part time job but we have no one to look after baby so itll have to be a night job.
Anyway im just trying to see if there is anything im entitled to as i know nothing about this stuff.
Thank you

You may get child tax credits or even working tax credits if you are on a low income but it will depend on your household income. If this is your first child and your houesehold income for next tax year April 2016-17 is likely to be less than £26k then you may get some help from child tax creidts. if you go back to work and work more than 16 hours a week then you may get help with childcare costs if your income is low enough. It is a good idea to try to work around your partners hours so weekends/ evenings/ nights, we have done this for 16 years to fit around 4 kids and it has saved us a fortune in childcae costs. Not very good for family life but sometimes you just have to do what you ned to do to get by. Good luck.

What does your partner earn?

It depends if you have a partner and you live together. Then his income will be taken into consideration. And also could depend on savings if they're high.

If you have a partner who works and you intend to be a sahm then unless they earn under a certain threshold you wouldn't be entitled to any benefits. It is assumed if you choose to stay at home then you can afford it - not rely on benefits to fund it.
You haven't really given enough info though, do you own or rent? If you have a loan to pay off how did you plan on doing that when you knew you wouldn't be going back to work?

Me and my partner live with his mum and he earns more than the 26k, i intended on goin back to work part time just not so soon. I have anough savings to pay off my loan which is 3k so not alot

This wasnt a post to see what benefits i could get to live off them, it was a post to see if theres anything i should be claiming that i dont know about, id rather be getting what im entitled to

If his income is over £26k then there isn't really anything apart from child benefit. If you were renting and had a very high rent you may get some housing benefit help and if you go back to work and have childcare costs you may get help with that or could perhaps use childcare vouchers if either or both of your employers sign up to a scheme, they are basically a salary sacrifice scheme to pay childare bills. If your partner earns over £26k and presumably you have a lowish board/ rent to pay if living with relatives then I can't understand why you are struggling , unless you and your partner keep your finances seperate for some reason?

what do you mean by "anything you should be claiming" if you don't want to know about benefits ?

Thank you babyroobs ur reply is helpful. We do keep our finances seperate...theres no reason as to why lol

Greengoblin i think you are misunderstanding me, i do want to know about benefits...to see which ones i am entitled to. I just didnt want people to think i want to try scan my way to get all the benefits and live off them. For my situation i wanted to know what i was entitled to which seems to be what i thought.. just child benefit

Any benefit entitlement will assume you are sharing finances if you are in a relationship. I would talk to your partner and see if he can help pay your loan whilst you are on mat leave. This would be a fair way of doing things especially as you are currently off work doing the bulk of the childcare for his child and therefore not getting a wage. Hope things work out ok.

Or invoice him for his half of the childcare that you provide ( Going rate for a childminder is around £4.50 an hour I believe), then you can pay your loan !!

He has offerend to pay my loan off for me but i declined.i never looked at it in that light that im actually doin the bulk of the childcare and not gettin a wage

The point is nobody can tell you what benefits you are entitled to without knowing your circumstances. That is whether you live with your partner and if so what his income is and what savings you have. If you are claiming means tested benefits nobody can give you any clue without this information so it's all a bit pointless asking. Why do you think you should receive a wage for taking care of your own child.

You keep saying what benefits am I entitled to, you are not entitled to any income based benefits on your own you have to claim as a couple, you cant have separate finances with your partner for benefit purposes, unless you are claiming contribution based like CB JSA/ESA/or Pension

No sharing income when you have a child together is ridiculous. The benefit system take it as read that your income is shared.

The answer to the debt is that unless it's a zero% credit card you should pay it off ASAP - with or without your partner's help -otherwise you're just shelling out interest for nothing (and presumably getting bugger all on your savings).

(The only exception I can think of would be if it was a Help to Buy ISA, which you should never cash in except in a dire emergency.)

And the OP didn't spontaneously say she should be paid for looking after her own child, she was responding to another poster pointing out the value of the childcare she provides to her DP - she's not just a sponger.