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Original poster

Working PT and receiving UC

38 replies

bigbarbie · 04/12/2022 21:50

I have a 19 month old DD and a 7 month old DS who has a rare genetic disorder. I’m currently still on maternity leave however I’ll be leaving this role as it’s full time (no one on the team is allowed to go part time or reduce hours) and it’s based in Kent and I now live in London. I spend most of my days taking DS to his hospital, physio and OT appointments as well as taking DD to two toddler groups a week but I’d like to try and work part time. I just have a question about how part time work impacts UC.

I know I don’t have any work commitments until my youngest turns 2 but I’d like to go back to work even if I work a few shifts at the weekend or something. So my UC entitlement amount is £1934. I get an amount for being a single parent, having two kids and the majority is for my rent which is £1180. On the ‘what you’re entitled to’ page it says that I can earn £344 and that will not impact my UC amount. But then for every £1 that I earn on top of that, 55p is deducted from my UC amount.

Does it seem to be in my best interests that I don’t earn more than £400 a month? I don’t want to earn over a certain amount which will have a knock on effect on my UC amount for the next month if you know what I mean. I’m just trying to figure out the best way to earn as much money as possible without it leaving me in an awkward position financially. This is my first time claiming UC and I can’t say that I 100% understand how it works so I wonder what other people do/would do in this situation? Thank you

OP posts:
Original poster
bigbarbie · 04/12/2022 22:53

Anyone??

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Original poster
bigbarbie · 05/12/2022 12:04

Bump, bump, shameless bump. Anyone about?!😂

OP posts:
PaniniHead · 05/12/2022 12:06

Is your son receiving DLA?

GiltEdges · 05/12/2022 12:10

But then for every £1 that I earn on top of that, 55p is deducted from my UC amount.

Logically, this means you’ll always be better off working, as long as your overall earnings are below the tax free threshold (£12570 a year roughly), because you’ll benefit from the extra 45p per £1.

Original poster
bigbarbie · 05/12/2022 12:21

@PaniniHead not yet because I haven’t sent back the form. I found it all really overwhelming so it’s taken me a little while to get through. Why do you ask?

@GiltEdges I did assume that, thanks for the clarity. But then I was wondering, say for example I earn £650 one month and then £350 the other month. I don’t want to suffer the month after (because you know the assessment period is basically based on the month before) so I wondered what the minimum I should earn every month to get a steady UC amount. I’m not sure if that all makes sense

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PaniniHead · 05/12/2022 12:30

If he receives DLA then you can claim the carer’s element on your UC claim, even whilst working. If you claim carer’s allowance as well, it will deduct £ for £ from your UC entitlement

Original poster
bigbarbie · 05/12/2022 15:01

@PaniniHead oh really, I didn’t know that. If it’s deducted pound for pound then there’s not really much point as I’ll still be receiving the same amount. I’d prefer to just keep my UC the same as the amount comes in a few days before my rent is due

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PaniniHead · 05/12/2022 15:18

A claim to Carer’s Allowance is separate to UC and is deducted £ for £. But the Carer’s element is an additional part of UC. If your son is awarded DLA you can declare this change and receive an additional amount, this isn’t deducted

Original poster
bigbarbie · 05/12/2022 15:40

@PaniniHead ahh right I completely get what you mean. Thanks so much for the information, I really appreciate it

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Babyroobs · 05/12/2022 16:27

You can earn £344 without your Uc being affected at all. Anything above that and you lose 55p of Uc for each pound you earn. So only you can decide really whether it is worth working more or whether it costs a lot to get to work or you have to pay something towards childcare etc.

Babyroobs · 05/12/2022 16:29

As above if you earnt too much to claim carers allowance ( current earnings threshold is £132 a week ) you can still claim carers element on UC once DLA is in place.

Original poster
bigbarbie · 05/12/2022 16:45

@Babyroobs so how does the career element work? Do you have to fill in another set of forms or can it be applied automatically once you receive DLA? I found everything so overwhelming haha! Thanks for the response

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Babyroobs · 05/12/2022 16:55

bigbarbie · 05/12/2022 16:45

@Babyroobs so how does the career element work? Do you have to fill in another set of forms or can it be applied automatically once you receive DLA? I found everything so overwhelming haha! Thanks for the response

Once DLA has been awarded you go to the home page of your journal and report a change that you are now a carer and it should be added. Also if child is awarded DLA you will get a disabled child element added too. the amount will depend on the rate of DLA they are awarded.

Kaffiene · 05/12/2022 19:50

Honestly I would ignore the Carers/ DLA stuff for now and get a full benefits check if or when it’s awarded. I am not saying you won’t get if but it is hard to be awarded for a child under 2 at a push but more likely 3.

The amount you earn gets reported to UC in real-time so any wage related reduction gets applied that month. For example I get my wages on the 25th and my UC in the 2nd. You will always be better off overall because you get your wages and your UC.

Another key thing is that if you are working you can claim 85% of your childcare costs back. I work 3 days a week but my DS goes to nursery 4 days a week which saves my single parent sanity.

Original poster
bigbarbie · 06/12/2022 16:40

Thank you for the comments, it’s all quite helpful but no one has advised on my actual questionGrin I’ll just aim to earn a minimum of £400 a month!

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JustKeepBuilding · 06/12/2022 16:47

As @GiltEdges posted, you’ll not be worse off for earning more as you will keep 45p in the £.

If DS is awarded DLA and you become eligible for carer’s allowance it is still worth claiming even though it is deducted £ for £ as there are other benefits to applying e.g. better NI contributions.

Babyroobs · 06/12/2022 19:58

bigbarbie · 06/12/2022 16:40

Thank you for the comments, it’s all quite helpful but no one has advised on my actual questionGrin I’ll just aim to earn a minimum of £400 a month!

Not sure what you mean by this? Lots of people have explained how it works.

Original poster
bigbarbie · 06/12/2022 20:47

@Babyroobs I must seem like I’m purposely being obtuse but I’ll try to explain what I mean as clearly as possible as it’s a bit confusing.

Let’s say I receive my full amount of £1934 on January 19th (that’s the day I get my UC).

So let’s say I start a new job by the end of January and get my first pay on the last Friday of the month so Fri 24th of Feb.

My assessment dates for February UC pay would be from 13th Jan - 12th Feb. So I’m asking what sort of amount should I aim to earn so my UC will roughly be the same amount every month?

Because if I get paid on the 24th of Feb, I’d have to wait until the 15th of March to be able to read my statement for that much. I’d need to keep my pay untouched until I get my statement to know how much money I have altogether no?

OP posts:
Original poster
bigbarbie · 06/12/2022 20:47

I’ve read that back and it sounds SO complicated so please don’t worry about responding haha. I think I know what I mean and I’ve basically answered my own question

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Babyroobs · 06/12/2022 20:58

bigbarbie · 06/12/2022 20:47

@Babyroobs I must seem like I’m purposely being obtuse but I’ll try to explain what I mean as clearly as possible as it’s a bit confusing.

Let’s say I receive my full amount of £1934 on January 19th (that’s the day I get my UC).

So let’s say I start a new job by the end of January and get my first pay on the last Friday of the month so Fri 24th of Feb.

My assessment dates for February UC pay would be from 13th Jan - 12th Feb. So I’m asking what sort of amount should I aim to earn so my UC will roughly be the same amount every month?

Because if I get paid on the 24th of Feb, I’d have to wait until the 15th of March to be able to read my statement for that much. I’d need to keep my pay untouched until I get my statement to know how much money I have altogether no?

I see what you mean. You can earn up to £344 and keep all the Uc you currently get. Say you earned £400 in your assessment period then you would just have £30.80 deducted from your total Uc amount of £1934, and still have £400 wages on top.
The calculation is total amount of wages paid in your assessment period minus £344 ( work allowance) x 0.55. The figure you get is what's deducted from your total UC. You can use this calculation for any amount of wages. If you are just paid monthly and earn the same each month then your Uc should stay the same each month. If you take a job where you are paid weekly then the amount of UC you would get would vary each month as there will be some months where four pay days fall in your assessment period and some months where five do.
To keep it simple just earn less than £344 and Uc will stay the same and then you'd have your £344 wages or less on top of your UC. If you need to claim childcare costs you can also do this but they pay up to 85%.

Original poster
bigbarbie · 06/12/2022 21:27

The calculation is total amount of wages paid in your assessment period minus £344 ( work allowance) x 0.55. The figure you get is what's deducted from your total UC. You can use this calculation for any amount of wages.

@Babyroobs omg you’re a complete legend!! I’m so rubbish at maths so have never really understood how much UC I’d get when earning a certain amount. You’re literally a Godsend thank you so much for commenting on my thread! You’ve practically answered my question.

I also don’t think I was understanding when people were saying ‘you’d always be better off when working because you get to keep 55p of the pound.’ I kept on forgetting that your UC may get slightly reduced due to what you’ve earned but you’re always getting the wage on top. I kept on forgetting that I’d be getting £400 from somewhere else and not just having my UC reduced.

I have no clue if I’m making any sense but thank you so much. I find this stuff really confusing and you’ve explained it so clearly to me x

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Beepbeepenergy · 08/12/2022 22:48

All u need to know is if you work you will definitely be better off you don’t have to just earn £400 even if u earn more u will get less ice but more wage but at the end of it still be better off

Beepbeepenergy · 08/12/2022 22:48

UC * not ice

Original poster
bigbarbie · 09/12/2022 05:08

@Beepbeepenergy thanks for your commet, I totally understand now. For example I’ve just been paid annual leave that I’ve accrued during maternity leave. I’m nearly £900 better off then if I was just getting the maximum amount of UC that I’m entitled too.

For some reason I thought the more you earn each month then UC will change the amount you’re entitled too instead of just deducting a certain amount. Not sure if that makes sense but I was confused and now I’m not! I understand that I’ll always be better off as I can have a wage and then a UC top up as opposed to just having UC

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PicaK · 09/12/2022 21:33

Hang on tho. Can you claim council tax assistance? My council reduces council tax to £0 if you earn less than the set amount. There's a sliding scale if you go over it.
Also if under then you get fsm and do not pay for dental check up and prescriptions.
So whenever people say to me it's better to earn a bit more I know they're wrong until it gets to a certain level of earning
Knuckle down and do the DLA form -having read the Cerebra guide and rung can for guidance. It's horrendous to fill in emotionally and organisationally but worth the pain .