Carers allowance and starting a new job

[Zoflorabore]

Hi
My ds has asd and I claim carers allowance as currently a sahm.

I've been offered a part time job locally which is 16 hours and minimum wage equating to roughly £120 per week.

From my understanding, this would just take me slightly over the threshold for CA.

I know i will be able to claim working tax credits as am a lone parent but obviously need to factor in that I will be losing approx £63 per week from CA.

Seems unfair that in order to claim wtc you have to work 16 hours but that then makes you ineligible for the likes of CA.

Does anyone have any experience of this?
I need a job for my own sanity really.

Thanks for reading.

Ask them to make your contract 15 hours?

OP, you're right it is crazy. It is a trap that I was in for years, always afraid that if I earned a little bit over I would lose hundreds a month.

Anyway, as you're quite near to the threshold you can try paying into a work-based pension. They discount half of it when calculating CA.

So, if you're earning £120 but pay 30 into a pension, they'll treat you as earning £105.

Also, any expenses incurred by work that come out of your wages.

But remember that if you get promoted you'll go through this again. Sometimes I wish I hadn't bothered but I couldn't have afforded to live without it.

Good luck! And I agree re. the sanity. I hope you enjoy your new job.

Ssash might that take her under the 16 hours WTC threshold?

Yes you just need to pay £11 a week into a pension on a 16 hour min wage job.

You can also talk to the CA helpline. They are extremely helpful and actually told me about the pension loophole. I think they realize that the non-tapered nature of losing CA affects a lot of people on the cusp.

Can also count things like breakfast clubs for kids. Lunch, uniform and petrol and stuff into your expenses to bring it down a little so you'll still be entitled to CA

Thanks everyone for your advice, will be ringing the carers helpline tomorrow:)

I was in that position that I earned slightly above the CA threshold.

if you don't want to use childcare, then join the pension scheme. You can deduct 50% of your pension contributions. this will take you easily below the threshold - and is a win/win for you: you keep CA and pay into a private pension.