I am about to start agency work 3 days a week. It pays ok but I'll have very high travel costs, nursery fees and after school care. I am a single parent of two and wondering if this is far too risky?
Does anyone have experience?
I currently get income support, child benefit and child tax credits and 15 hours free termtime childcare for mine child.
I will be very dependent on tax credits to make this doable.
I'm not expecting to be much better off but I am worried that I might end up worse off. It's hard to factor everything in!
So....
If I was sick or had to take time off because a child was sick I would have a scary shortfall. I don't have a significant buffer. That's perhaps too risky.
For tax credit calculations would they pay me based on a projected year's salary at the starting weekly pay. I would not have guaranteed contracted income. Presumably i just inform them of changes. Or it gets picked up at year end when I do a tax return if unearned a lot less/more (assume a tax return is needed?)
for childcare costs, with nursery I estimate the monthly average and this is used in the working tax credit calculation. If I get this wrong the amount would be adjusted when I do a tax return in march/April 2018? Am i then billed/refunded accordingly?
I have not yet worked out summer holiday care for DC1 (at school). If I use a registered provider would that then be taken into consideration at year end if included in tax return? Or do i have to guess up front?
Will CAB help with this level of detail?