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.

I'm afraid this comment is disingenuous. The example you used in the benefit calculation further up this thread, for a couple with a 4yr old child, showed an approximate total household income (from earned income plus benefits) of around £40k pa gross. The current gross UK salary is around £35,830pa, so where one parent of this example couple is staying at home to look after children, the family are trying to live on only slightly more than the current average salary of one earner.
What this tells us is that UK employers often don't pay a decent living wage (the fact that 40% of UC recipients are also working reinforces this) and this needs to change to remove people's reliance on benefit top-ups to their wages. Tax-payers, via Govt policy, are subsidising employers' wage bills.

Just to point out, you may say you're 'only' getting £40 a month from the tax payer. But that isn't correct.

If a person works and earns £25K, that's about £200 in tax per month, plus £125 NI. If that person doesn't work and goes on UC and receives £40 a month, the tax payer is actually £200 + £125 + £40 = £365 a month worse off. Because you're not putting into the system in addition to taking out.

These are the UC rules around parents with child caring responsibilities:

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.

So, as you can see, the SAHP is expected to obtain work, up to 30hrs pw, once their child reaches 3 years old and the 30hrs of Govt-funded free child care for children aged 3 - 4 enables them to do that.

@SaveMeFromMyBoobs love your username!

Only if they are a single parent or their partner doesn’t earn enough. If their partner earns above a certain amount, only they are required to work.

Not only would it not be practical for CA (the B part was dropped in 2003) to inform everyone, it's not their job. CA advisors do, of course, give tailored advice to anyone who asks the organisation for advice.

It's obvious that midwives would be in a good position to advise new parents about CB because it's a simple benefit associated solely with parenthood. However, UC is complex and very much dependant on individual household circumstances, so there's no way midwives would have to in-depth knowledge to advise on this (other than to say, "you might want to see if you're entitled to any UC").

Three are a number of benefit calculators online (.gov.uk, CA, Turn2Us, Policy in Practice, etc) that you can use to check what benefit entitlement you have. Entitledto seems a popular one (it's clear and straightforward to use) so you could check your entitlement using it: https://www.entitledto.co.uk/benefits-calculator/Intro/Home?cid=0a97e603-f891-4eaf-b939-e1e1056d9f35 😊

I don't understand your comment "If their partner earns above a certain amount, only they are required to work." Can you clarify what you mean please?

If their partner earns above or exactly the threshold set by UC. The other person isn’t required by UC to work.

So requiring working by 3 wouldn’t apply to them.

I think it is disingenuous of you to compare the median UK salary with the gross income of one person working 29 hours per week and then declare everything to be fine.

Half the UK population earn less than the median figure. Why should a family where one person chooses not to work have a higher than median income - especially if they only work 29 hours per week to meet the AET threshold?

I really doubt most are on £35k plus. Only those with a high rent, several children before 2017 or any disability might but the majority won't. We are roughly £26k a year including UC.

Bear in mind this might all change at the end of October budget. Labour have made it clear that younger working age people need to work more. Have to wait and see.

I have a suspicion it will be people with anxiety or depression or something like that that makes them not able to work they will be chasing.

Of course, relying on a partner or the govt (taxpayers) to fund your lifestyle is a risk. Either one can decide to stop at any time.