Working Tax credits and working 30 hours

[23Elfie]

Hi everyone,

I'm a single parent and currently work 24 hours a week. I possibly (hopefully!) have an opportunity to increase my hours to 30 per week.

Can anyone tell me as ive tried doing the online calculators and read conflicting articles...

Is there still a bonus for working 30 hours?
Did you simply get the bonus on top of what you get now or do they re calculate the earnings (which I assume brings it down a bit) then add the bonus back on?

I really need to work more hours as I simply cannot afford life at the moment but want to try and work out if it'll have much impact tax credits wise?

Any help appreciated :)

The 30 hour element is £830/year which is £15.96/week.

I advise you to do some benefit calculations to see if you would be better off increasing your hours and/or claiming UC instead; some people actually are better off on UC. You could try entitledto or Turn2Us. Or contact citizens advice and ask them to do the calculations for you.

Citizens Advice can give general budgeting advice too and can help you find other ways of increasing your income and reducing your outgoings. So it's probably worth contacting them if you are struggling atm.

As above, check whether you would be better off on UC as taper rates have decreased and work allowances have increased making people better off.

Thank you both I shall look into UC, do you know if there is a backlog if I switch over / how long does it take? I usually get my tax credits every week x

My cousin had a change of circumstance that triggered change from TC to UC.
Claimed on 14th Feb, told official calculation will be on 12th Mar (though Entitledto is accurate) and first monthly payment will be 20th Mar. So the standard 5 weeks they seem to quite applies currently.
She can get a UC advance if necessary until then.

Great thank you everyone for your help much appreciated :)

UC wait is 5 weeks as they will assess your income over the monthly assessment period but you can apply for an advance.
A lot of single people with children working full time and paying rent will be better off on UC. You get the standard elements then they reduce according to your wages (work allowance and then 55p per £1 earnt) going from weekly to monthly may be a shock to the system but there are some great budgeting tools available online.

OMG get off tax credits and change to UC you will have more money
I could not survive on tax credits… UC is amazing for me