Uc not going back to work

[ash646668]

I was lead to believe in my first meeting for universal credit that I wouldn't be expected to get a job untill my baby went to school at 4. I've now found out they expect you to go back to work at 3. My baby is only 6 months at the moment but I'm thinking ahead. I don't have any family who can look after her and my partner works full time. I am really against her going to nursery and even if I did send her I can't imagine I could get a job with limited availability as a carer. They are typically 12 hour shifts including weekend. Has anyone else experienced not working after baby turns 3 and waiting until they are ready for school. And what happened with universal credit.

So, reading this - you didn't go back to work and pay a huge chunk of money for childcare because you didn't expect others to fund you - you did it because you had no choice

Of course you're expected to work. That's why there is 30 hours funded childcare places available, plus can claim back more as on UC. There are preschools for 3yo that are term time only and school hours. Find a good one of them and get the same job you were planning on getting a year later.

This is why there are so few net contributors in this country

On the old style benefits you weren't expected to go back to work until your child was 5, I was on income support & they left me well alone.
My friend on the other hand was on UC & they were calling her every 2 weeks about going back to work (our kids were/are the same age)
She kept getting sick notes from the doctor saying she had depression which she then gave her her work coach.

I personally think 3 is too young.

I don't see how UC can encourage you to go back to work when your partner works full time?

A SAHP gets money from the government.

A parent working and claiming for childcare costs is also receiving money from the government.

The difference is who is looking after the children - and tbh given how expensive childcare is, and how alot of women working part-time while juggling childcare are in lower-earning jobs (thereby paying reduced tax) I'd wager SAHMs don't cost as much as you think

40% of people in receipt of UC are also working.

These kind of threads are what honestly make me want to never look at MN again.

How so called intelligent people cannot see through the constant goady benefit-bashing agendas, it's just ridiculous.

The UC rules for people who are the main carer for their children are as follows:

Child is under 1
If your child is under 1 year old, you will be placed in the ‘no work-related requirements’ group. You won’t be expected to do any activities through the jobcentre and you won’t have a work coach. You won’t be expected to look for work.

Child is aged 1
If your child is aged 1, you will be placed in the ‘work-focused interviews’ group. You won’t be expected to look for work. However, you might be asked to have interviews with a work coach about the kind of work you would like to do in the future.

Child is aged 2
If your child is aged 2, you will be placed in the ‘work preparation’ group. You won’t be expected to look for work but you might be expected to take part in activities to improve your chances of getting a job in the future.

Child is aged 3 - 12
If your child is aged between 3 and 12, you will be placed in the ‘all work-related requirements’ group. You will be expected to look for work and to be available to take up a job if one is offered to you. You won’t be expected to take a job that would mean working more than 30 hours per week and you won’t need to spend more than 30 hours per week looking for work.

As pps have pointed out, you can get 30 hours per week of free childcare for children aged 3 - 4 years old and this will enable you to return to work and meet your UC claimant commitment. You don't say what work you did previously, but you may be able to find work you can do from home.

The trouble is most people are absolutely clueless about how the welfare benefit system works and how complex it is - and they're not really interested in finding out because they're lazy and it's so much easier to believe what all the right-wing media write about "benefit scroungers".

Your figures don't make sense to me at all. How do you get from a figure of £1,397pm UC entitlement (based upon rent of £1,000pm) to a total net income of £2,765pm? And how does this equate to £40k pa for a 29hr week?

All mums have a right to stay at home with their children until they're 3 (used to be 5!).

No one believes other mums are obliged to facilitate it - it's simply a choice. Everyone is entitled to the same benefits system, so there's no reason to be jealous.

You can choose to stay at home with your child but the money received will be minimal, or you can choose to return to work earlier for career reasons.

What I will say is this - a LOT of people are unaware of the benefits they could be entitled to, and it's always best to contact your local citizen's advice (or equivalent) if / when your circumstances change.

The cut off is at 3 years old because children get universal preschool funding at 3 so most are in preschool up to 30 hours a week at this age.

I would not rely on the couples AET remaining where it is. The recent changes to the childcare funding available to parents made it quite likely it will go/move.

I would assume its best to plan to work at least part time when your child is 3.

If you want to choose to be at home until your child starts school, thats a luxury, you and your husband need to fund that yourselves not expect the state to fund that. Most mothers work from when their child is around 1 & up, at least part time.

So why not claim it and ease the financial situation?

This smacks of pure jealousy. In fact the whole thread does!

I work weekends. I need after school childcare to work later shifts at my work during the week as my husband works a distance away and wouldn't be able to get back in time for the school run. We have no family nearby. So yes I will claim what we are entitled to help bridge the gap of not being able to work more right now.

Well it was simple enough to upload invoices but just reading people saying it hasn't been included in their statement is making me 😳. You can only get help with the costs from the flexible fund jobcentre if it is a new job/more hours. Although that depends if you can find a nursery with space!

well no as UC will top up the income. My friend stayed at home for years like this. Given there’s a lot of funded childcare now maybe this needs to be looked at. But as it stands, it exists so of course people will choose to stay at home for a few years if the government will give some UC. I doubt its the same as a second salary though, so people will need to tighten their belt like everyone needs to do so when on one income. As the OP’s partners income is low, they are entitled to UC.

I’d say resentment over jealousy, i doubt anyone is jealous of a low income household. I guess anger at the Government too for some of their benefit rules. The cost of childcare and fact OP was in a low income job means work wouldn’t pay for her right now. She cant even work evenings or weekends as her OP is a shift worker. If the benefit is available, then of course people will claim it, and OP has been, and will be a tax payer again.

I definitely agree on the shifts comment. It makes sense to become a SAHM and indeed it is often cited on here as a reason to become a SAHM due to shifts. I don't see OP cheating the system. If it works for your family to do that then I don't see why not?

Why are you asking about it like it would be a huge problem if its only £40 a month. You sound like losing it would make it be impossible to stay home?

You're clearly not form a poor background are you?

If people don't have children the human race would go extinct.

That can be a weekly shop!

@ash646668 why are you so against nursery?! But yet accepting of school…why not homeschool!? I don’t get your logic…but wait yes, I get it now, you don’t want to PAY for nursery, but school is fine as that free. 🙄

@IVFmumoftwo Adding you to my list of mumsnetters I like. But I think @Zanatdy is right, it's resentment, not jealousy.

The mums who are working above UC threshold are asking "Why are you stressed about £40?"

The mums who are not working or/and working but below the UC threshold are very aware of the value of £40.

It's a trade off