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Original poster

Universal credit help please

17 replies

Questionasker2 · 09/11/2023 04:32

I'm currently on maternity leave and planning for afterwards, we had been planning on me returning to work part time however circumstances have changed and it looks unlikely this is going to work out, we have no family help and childcare costs rule out working in the day until the funded hours kick in.
I've done a universal credit calculation and it looked like we could get a top up of around £500 (husband income around 28k) if I didn't go back. Does this sound right? Although there are good reasons (I would rather be back at work than relying on UC for the extra and I've never claimed before) technically I would be choosing to be out of work? At what point with children are you expected to look for work again?
And would it make a difference if I applied while in the last 3 unpaid months of my mat leave and then gave my notice? I've heard of sanctions for leaving jobs, but I would hate to rely on a calculator, quit and then the UC claim not match up
Any advice appreciated, I'm trying to find a way to make it work and bridge the gap from end of mat leave to funded childcare

OP posts:
Olika · 09/11/2023 05:57

Sounds about right. You have a small kid so you can stay home until (s)he goes to school.

firstbabyworries · 09/11/2023 06:18

We were told at our last meeting that we could continue claiming until our son goes to school. I was shocked! We are doing our very best and that info allowed us both to just take a breath

ginandtonicwithlimes · 09/11/2023 06:25

Do you rent or own your house? It is possible you will get more than that if you rent but I suspect you won't get £500 a month if you own.

ginandtonicwithlimes · 09/11/2023 06:26

Olika · 09/11/2023 05:57

Sounds about right. You have a small kid so you can stay home until (s)he goes to school.

I wouldn't plan on this. There are plans to make both parents work after the age of three.

FedUpMumof10YO · 09/11/2023 06:31

I'd put in the claim and see what happens.

TeaKitten · 09/11/2023 06:42

You don’t have to look for work until your child is 2 or 3 (not sure which, but it’s deff before school age), but you’d have to attend occasional meetings to ‘prepare’. Do you have a mortgage or savings?

ilikeeggs · 09/11/2023 07:32

I was told by an advisor at the job centre you don’t need to work until your child is 3 and then they expect you to work 16 hours a week and then 25 hours a week when your child is 6.

I did hear there might be changes to that though as I think the government are trying to get everyone to work more hours.

Nonametonight · 09/11/2023 07:44

If your concern is the cost of childcare, make sure you do a calculation to see what UC you would be entitled to if you went back to work and had childcare costs. UC covers up to 85 percent of childcare costs, so it can be worth going back to work and getting help with childcare through UC

Bromptotoo · 09/11/2023 08:06

ilikeeggs · 09/11/2023 07:32

I was told by an advisor at the job centre you don’t need to work until your child is 3 and then they expect you to work 16 hours a week and then 25 hours a week when your child is 6.

I did hear there might be changes to that though as I think the government are trying to get everyone to work more hours.

That's what I would expect:

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/universal-credit/what-youll-need-to-do-on-universal-credit/claimant-commitment-what-group/

FlemCandango · 09/11/2023 08:27

There are income thresholds for claims, so if as a household you have earnings over this amount (I will check the current amount) then you will meet your claim commitment and not be impacted by the benefits cap.

Babyroobs · 09/11/2023 08:27

As pp says do the calculation to see how much help you would get towards childcare costs. It's short sighted to just give up a job unless you know you can get another easily a couple of years down the line with a recession looming.

Babyroobs · 09/11/2023 08:32

FlemCandango · 09/11/2023 08:27

There are income thresholds for claims, so if as a household you have earnings over this amount (I will check the current amount) then you will meet your claim commitment and not be impacted by the benefits cap.

This doesn't apply to op as she will have no work commitments with a baby.

Babyroobs · 09/11/2023 08:56

Uc are frequently changing the earnings thresholds. I think now that they are introducing free hours for babies from nine months within a couple of years, they will also likely expect to also reduce the age at which both parents are expected to work. I personally feel that within a few years everyone will be expected to work from the youngest child being nine months which is the point that mat leave ends for most people.

Original poster
Questionasker2 · 09/11/2023 09:44

Thank you for your replies, we planned so carefully before deciding to have another baby but changed at my workplace mean I won't be able to go back to the hours I had planned with my manager (nothing he can do, but all legal no grounds for complaint).
We own our home, mortgage is £850.
With childcare plus wraparound care/holiday care for other children I would be worse off unfortunately. If they do bring the funded hours forward I'm more than happy to work any job I can find school hours, as long as we don't end up worse off.
I'm only a few months into my mat leave so can't apply yet, but would rather have a plan sorted sooner than later so I can stop stressing. I'm still keeping an eye on job sites in case any magical work from home, super flexible hours jobs appear but definitely not banking on that!
If the estimate is correct we could manage until I'm able to work in the day again, but I'm so scared of it being wrong and ending up stuck

OP posts:
OhNoForever · 09/11/2023 09:46

Once baby is three you need to do 16 hours a week. Pp is wrong that it is until starting school.

ginandtonicwithlimes · 09/11/2023 11:26

Check out the FB UC groups and get them to make a manual calculation before you make your decision. More reliable than the online calculators.

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