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???

[quote Lulubon]@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![/quote]
And that reason isn’t to fund your lifestyle choice of staying at home rather than working
If you have another child now you will NEVER get out of the poverty trap

I don't think you're right about this £16 limit on earnings to get help with childcare costs OP. Check that out - but UC tapers off so you don't end up worse off if you earn more. Try the Entitled2 website or call the UC helpline to ask

@Lulubon You do what is best for you and your family. You do not need anyone else's approval.

Tax free childcare earnings limit is £100,000 a year.......

[quote Lulubon]@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[/quote]
You can get tax free childcare for up to 100k.

@Firefliess no sorry you’re confused.

UC but not working = £936
Working + childcare= £300
I won’t receive my UC on top of that £300, I will be £500 worse off. Hope that makes sense

A quick Google will tell you that, OP.

I think you should also explore ways to boost your income. £950 per month suggests a salary of around £12k. Minimum wage at full time is usually around £16k. If you're part time that's different but even with sone 3-4 day per week admin jobs you could be earning more than that.

@lookingforjobinspiration so I’m looking at part time work due to childcare cost more then anything. £950 on 22.5 hours is a decent wage

Can you not find part time work for a while that fits around your partners working hours? Working in a pub etc?

Even if childcare cancels out your earnings, go back. You will never reach income parity with your partner if you let these slip by. You will always be on the back foot for decades to come, your pension will never recover, you’ll always be the one collecting a poorly child from school because “his” job is more important etc etc. Right now his job is not supporting his family, so I see no earthly reason to prioritise it.

What training do you need to get a salary bump when you go back? Can you start that now or is it better paid for by your next employer?

Get off zero hours & into a steady job with progression. You have a bit of time to play around with - look for places like local council etc.

What do you do? What are your skills?

You sound young. A second child might have to wait 4 or 5 years while you get yourself on track. You certainly can’t afford it now.

The tax free childcare discussion is not going to help the Op’s confusion.

A benefits calculator will.

OP the main benefit of getting a job is you will have agency and are more in control of your circumstances. You can get promoted and in time earn more and there is less risk of remaining out of work long term. At the moment Rishi Sunak and the government can change the rules as and when they want to cutting your benefits or making them harder to access. Employment gives you options

Op, unless you earn a crazy high salary you can open a childcare.gov account and fir every £80 you pay in the gov put £20. This is not a benefit but you have to both work more than 16hrs each.
UC child credits are in addition to this. Also if you work there is no minimum or maximum amount you must earn under to claim.

"We receive £936 pm if I work and pay full childcare cost I will earn around £950 but spend £500 on childcare"

Can you not work opposite shifts and eliminate the childcare?

Single Parents make it work. You have a partner. I am sure between the two of you, you can find a way to make it work if you work together on this.

I have a friend who works weekends and her dh works Mon - Fri. Why couldn't you do that?

You pay the nursery or childminder from that account so any bill is 20% cheaper. If you work 16hrs pt or more, which you will be as you say 22.5hrs.

Why should I as a taxpayer fund your child when I didn’t have a second as we couldn’t afford it. This does my nut in.

@Whoopsmahoot congratulations taxpayer. Read the post and you will see. We are not having a second child until financially able 🤦🏼‍♀️

You could work evenings and weekends when your dp isn't working so you wouldn't need childcare at all op.

I'd probably edit your thread title OP as it gives out the wrong message. Yes if you still qualify for UC when you start work you can get 85% paid for in arrears up to the limits previously mentioned. You can get childcare paid for upfront too if you message your work coach. You won't have to pay this back.

If you are degree educated then I'd look at the civil service. Very family friendly. Could apply for part time and or term time only work. If not then look for work you can do on an evening from home. The work from home hub on Facebook is great for that.

If you find the benefits calculator confusing then message your work coach and they'll do it for you.

I am sorry that some posters are trying to make you feel guilty about being on UC, or choosing a direction (i.e. having second child) that might mean you will be in it for longer.

I think you should go ahead with second child now. Bringing up children is an important role in society.

You will have paid your taxes prior to having children and you will pay lots more when you are free to go back to work. You will then be making a contribution to others so that they too can have their turn at help from the state when they have need. It is about looking long term. You will be paying taxes for decades after the children are at school.

My own view is that it is better for the state to support your family in the short term so that your children can have your attention and care whilst they are pre-school.

If you were to take a full time job now, with all the financial problems that this will bring, you will also be changing a smooth-running family into one where you are rushing about trying to keep many plates spinning. Working whilst having pre-school children is challenging. I know that many choose to do that and find ways of making it work, but it is not without its problems.

I took five years out when I had my first two and have never regretted it. I could concentrate on that important task and then, when the time was right and they were at school, I returned to my career. It never held me back in getting jobs or furthering my career. I used to put "homemaker/child rearer" on my CV for those years. I would talk up the skills and human insights that I learned doing that task at interview and I was never turned down for any job.

It also means that at interview the firm can be pretty sure that you have done your child-rearing and are less likely to need maternity leave.

Morally there is no difference between taking UC from the state now and taking maternity benefits from the state and your employer while on maternity leave from work. And your career has more continuity, as you do not need to drop out each time you have a child. So guilt about being on benefits is inappropriate.

There will be a bit of a shortfall in your pension contributions in most cases and that is the issue you might like to consider rather than feeling bad about being on UC.

Bringing up children is a valuable job for the good of all - enjoy it and make a good job of it and you have nothing to reproach yourself for. You will be paying plenty of taxes in the decades to come!

Unfortunately talking about being on UC on MN Is a crime, and prepare to hear a lot of “I, a taxpayer …”.

Seems like you’ve already received some good advice, but yeah, definitely check out what support you can get for childcare. I think childcare prices are keeping a lot of people stuck on benefits. It sucks.

I used to work in tax affairs for high net worth individuals op. The billionaires that you slate are paying huge amounts of tax which is paying for your benefits. On the other hand, anyone not in the higher rate tax band (40%) - generally is not paying enough tax to pay for their own benefits.

Not saying people shouldn’t claim what they are entitled to, but I do have a problem with the whole concept of let’s criticize big business/ billionaires who are contributing loads but still doing well rather than those taking out of the system. If we didn’t have big business and wealthy people to pay the disproportionate amount of tax they pay, we would have much smaller public services/ welfare.

Also I do think that people have a general point about how people on middle incomes often can’t afford to have extra children but those on benefits can. It does seem unfair.

The long term benefits of being in work and staying in work financially massively out pace the consequences of not working. Pensions and promotion chances, training opportunities. And also for me some independence helped my self confidence.

When your partner or DH is home, can he look after the child & you go out to work ?