AIBU to stay on UC instead of working

[Lulubon]

Hey I'm looking for outside insight...

We are currently receiving around £950 UC/Month
this is made up of a standard couples amount, child tax and housing benefit. Plus £84 child benefit

My partner works full time, he earns around £1400/ month
Our rent is high but standard for our area (£1075/ month for a 2 bed flat)
We cant move due to contract + we would have to move quite far to lower rent, meaning further from partners work- costing more in travel etc which would make it around equal we've checked this...

We have 1 child aged 1.5 years

We struggle with money but make do- usually dipping into the overdraft to afford food shops/ petrol though. We dont spend on extra luxuries, no dinners out/ new clothes, I try to buy everything second hand. Though I do spend some on toddler groups with my son (usually 2x a week max)

I have a 0 hours job but we cant afford childcare (£100 a day is standard in our area for nurseries/ £7+/ hour for childminders, though ive never managed to find space anywhere!!! I'm 190th on the waiting list for one nursery!?) so I don't take many shifts.

I'd like to work a part time job in order to come off UC as it gives me huge anxiety relying on it, we'd also like another child soon but obviously I'd like to earn more before we took this step. My issue is, even if I work full time, im not going to be bringing in ANY extra money, in fact LESS!?

We have estimated that we will be WORSE off if I return to work due to childcare costs... what can we do?! I feel so trapped! how do we get out of the hole of UC?!

The most I will make a month on a part time job is around £930/ Month
and childcare will be minimum £400-500/month

With a full time job could potentially earn £1400/month with childcare around £900/month min, meaning take home would be £500 after childcare costs.

The upside is, my partner has just completed a qualification meaning he will be eligible for a higher paid job but its marginal and will take from our UC but we should end up slightly better off... and it depends if he lands a better job too.

can anyone help?! am i missing something obvious???

If you are low income you should be offered 15 hours nursery at 2, you can use this time to improve your earning potential (and now during naps). I would in your position look at weekend/evening work whilst your dp is not at work, you only loose uc at a taper rate so you will be better off

READ THE POST OR DONT COMMENT PLEASE.

You will feel better when you work , and there is always a chance of promotion, overtime and bonuses . Choose a job with decent maternity pay for the future.
Should you stay on UC and have another child, of course not.
The threshold for help with childcare is quite high , book an appointment with a work coach via the uc journal .
I was on uc when I got made redundant during the pandemic so I looked into all this.
I'm now working full time and I have an 8 year old , it's bloody hard as a single parent but my self esteem has increased by 100%

When I returned to work after my second child was born I earned £900 a month and the childcare bill was £950 a month. It was bonkers but in the long run I was better in work, earning pension etc than being out of it. It was bloody hard though and we still can't afford to both heat the house and eat, and we currently can't afford to drive

@incompetentcervix so you were earning -£50? I’m sorry but it’s doesn’t make logical sense to earn -£ and not be able to feed your family… I understand not wanting to rely on benefits, I don’t want to either but there’s a line and a reason they exist!

You will find many families who use childcare don't have much money left after nursery fee's are taken. One's near me are around £1,400 or more for 5 day's a week a month. I do it for my sanity and keeps my pension going. Most people it's for job progression, pension or wouldn't get back in to their current job if they left.
When they go to school you don't have as much childcare cost but it's definitely harder with finding wraparound care if you need it, half term cover ect.

The reason they exist is for short term help for people who are unable to work or whose bills far exceed their income.

I've waited til I am 39 for it to be financially viable for me to have a second child. How old are you, OP?

Tax free childcare will pay for 20% of your childcare costs. And once your child is 2 they will get 15 free hours. Can you wait until then?

@TabithaTittlemouse

You can’t afford another child if you are already dipping into your overdraft to buy food, simple.

This.

If you’re already struggling financially with an 18 month old, then you really won’t manage when your dc starts school. So many extra expenses such as school uniform, extra curricular activities, buying birthday presents for parties etc. The amount that it costs just to feed and clothe dc once they’re aged 7+ is huge.

There’s always so many threads on here with Mums really struggling financially and they’ve got 2 or 3 school age dc.

@Lulubon

READ THE POST OR DONT COMMENT PLEASE.

The title of this thread is 'AIBU to stay on UC instead of working?' which does very much imply you don't want to work

What sort of job would you be looking for?

The advantages of incompetentcervix's method, if you can get through the early years, is you get the pension, you get the promotions, you get the opportunities. Long term, it's better if you can survive.

Would working around your partners hours work? Evenings? Weekends? If only one of you is working at a time, it means the childcare element goes. It does depend on how regular each set of hours is tho.

I've also listened to the governments speil about always being better off in work. I'm not sure it's always correct, but it is worth using the calculators and checking carefully.

It sounds like, on current numbers, you cant afford a second child. Sorry.

@lookingforjobinspiration yep and I am one of those people. I am going to return to work with the help of childcare costs but up until now, if I returned to work we would be so so far deep in debt, we’d probably be homeless 🙂

As I’ve stated (if you read the tread), I was looking for a way out of UC to earn, to save and to eventually have enough money for another child.

Im a degree educated woman with a child under 2, I’ve done what I’ve needed to to survive to this point. I don’t want to reply on UC which is why I am RETURNING TO WORK.

I work and get UC. I don’t understand why people are so snobby about being in benefits. It’s there for a reason if your not entitled to it you will not get it. If you are use it.

@Lulubon

This is hilarious. I’ve said I WANT another child and that I WANT to work so I wanted to see how I can make that possible. I DONT want to rely on ‘taxpayers’ hence why I’m NOT having another child until I work. but may I remind you that I have been a taxpayer my whole working life until I became a parent. This country doesn’t support working mothers. It’s very simple. Having said that now that I can get support for childcare I am going to work.

Sorry but would anyone really work for £300pm due to spending £500 on childcare?

Just to weigh in with another perspective - for a few years I was left with £300 pm after childcare. My husband worked so we didn't get any benefits, and it just was what it was.

But in the 3 years since we've finished paying childcare my employer has funded me to do an expensive professional qualification, I've been promoted and gone up 3 bands, and I've negotiated to work from home with a 4 day week spread over 5. I wouldn't have been in that position going in as a new hire someplace, so it was worth keeping my job.

I think you'd find a lot of parents do, sadly, work for £300 pm while paying childcare fees, and see it as better than removing themselves from the workplace, and then having to find their way back in.

@GalesThisMorning I totally understand and respect that and I would like to do the same, but if I did work for £300 we just couldn’t pay our bills or rent or food etc it’s simply impossible.

Though through starting this tread, I’ve learned about possible support with childcare, in which case I will 100% use and work.

There’s a lot of stigma around benefits, but for us there was absolutely no other way, if I had worked after my Mat leave ended we’d be homeless 🤷🏼‍♀️

Ignore those not reading the post. You need to think of the long game. Returning to work will benefit you in years to come, if not you'll still be on the same money same problems. Returning to work you'll feel the squeeze now but you'll be in a better position in 10 years time kinda thing

Argh, actually after paying petrol I was probably left with £280 pm! So glad those days are done. We couldn't have afforded 2 close in age tho!!

Agreed. Long term you may be better off returning to work. Can your husband juggle his hours to facilitate? Definitely look at the calculators for childcare.

If you went back to work now for a year or so and built up maternity rights, then you could look to have another child when the first goes to school which would mean only one in childcare when you go back.

I understand and I'm not judging you, you may well wind up working AND claiming UC, so you'll never please everyone! I think a lot of people have 3 year gaps in your situation, as then you get the 30 hours free funding for nursery. I'm surprised your HV hasn't told you all of this already, we knew about tax free childcare and the 30 hours before my DC was born, we were literally relying on it before we had even found a nursery place

OP would you mind saying what your job is or what industry you work in? Reason being I was going to suggest studying to improve your qualifications in this time, and you would get help with childcare while studying. As being on a zero hours contract is making things difficult for you.

Also, people are getting mixed up, it was an earlier poster who suggested having another child now while on UC, not the OP.

But the £300pm would be after the childcare costs have been paid? So it is an extra £300 that you now currently don't have.

I would speak to an advisor if possible and find out what support there is for childcare costs and then look at working either in your current job or apply for others. It may well take the extra 6 months to find one so the 15hrs free will kick in then which helps a lot.

@VioletOcean

I work and get UC. I don’t understand why people are so snobby about being in benefits. It’s there for a reason if your not entitled to it you will not get it. If you are use it.

100% this. If you qualify for benefits, take them.

UC tapers off. It doesn't simply cut off if you're working. I think working and ending up about £300 a month better off than you would not working is very normal if you have young kids and childcare costs - I'm sure I had no more than that when mine were small. But if money is tight, then £300 is a lot! Can pay for a holiday once a year, or treats for the kids, or you could run a car with it.

@BrinksmansEntry sorry I think that’s the confusion. We receive £936 pm if I work and pay full childcare cost I will earn around £950 but spend £500 on childcare. Leaving is worse off if you understand. But if I get childcare cost assistance then that’s a different story!

Also we don’t qualify for tax feee childcare as far as I’m aware you need to earn less than £16,000 per household

You will get some help from uc for the childcare costs but your right the numbers don't stack up

Can you work opposite shifts to your partner? Working 3/4 nights or late shifts a week would boost your money and he could watch your child it would pull you out the hole a bit at least till your child turns two and the figures stack more in your favour then