Ok so I have a child who has severe learning difficulties and I also work 2 jobs. One is my main job and the other is self employed where the work is ad-hoc so the work varies each month and so my earnings can be up and down from month to month. My self employed job though is my passion and what I’ve put a lot of hard work into over the years. However, I do struggle to juggle the two jobs along with caring for my child, taking her to appointments and despite the government wanting to push parents into working 30 hours a week - I feel that is completely unattainable in my situation.
I attended a meeting with a work coach last week as I have recently moved from tax credits to universal credit. To cut a long story short we got talking about my daughter and the work coach basically told me that I am eligible for the carers element of UC due to me claiming DLA for my daughter and that I will be placed in the ‘no work’ category so I will not be required to look for work and that I can earn as much or as little as I like.
This was a complete shock to me as I have never classed myself a carer before, I just always saw myself as a parent and have always done what I’ve had to do.
My main question is, as I’m struggling to juggle 2 jobs and caring for my child, would it go against me if I decide to quit one of those to focus my time more on my child? Obviously I know I won’t be told I need to look for work more work but would I be penalised for dropping a job that I already had? I feel I know the answer to this but I just want to fully make sure before I make and decisions.