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Original poster

Advice please! How do i get off of benefits?!

24 replies

anuvaname · 19/04/2009 22:19

Im currently on income support and child tax credit living with my DD who is nearly 3.
My DP is working away until September, when hes back he will be living here but will not be coming back to a job. This is not a deffinate yet but if it is then id have to get off of benefits.
How do i do this? sounds like a silly question i know but i cant see how it will work out all money stopping until pay day etc!
Please dont judge or critisise me for being on benefits!

OP posts:

nancy75 · 19/04/2009 22:21

if you are both unemployed you will still be entitled to benefits

AtheneNoctua · 19/04/2009 22:32

If you are on benefots and looking for a way to get off of them, then I say good for you. I guess you need a job that pays enough. If you aren't in a posisiton to get such a job you need a plan for how to get there. Education? Experience? And of course with a 3 year old you'll need childcare. If you give a bit more information on what you'd like to do I imagine people could offer more constructive suggestions.

kylesmyloveheart · 19/04/2009 22:34

if you find a monthly paid job they will carry on paying your benefit until pay day. there are all sort of bonuses for going back to work - money for clothes for interviews etc.

sure someone will be along soon to help you with better advice.

Flibbertyjibbet · 19/04/2009 22:36

I saw something on our tax credits info recently that said tax credits for child care are available if you are doing some training to get a job/better job.

You are better off if you work in a low paid job and get tax credits, than if you are on benefits.

Good for you planning how to get off them.

FAQinglovely · 19/04/2009 22:38

"You are better off if you work in a low paid job and get tax credits, than if you are on benefits."

Sadly not always the case - hence the ridiculous situation we have in this country of the working poor.

onadietcokebreak · 19/04/2009 22:39

Sorry but what Kylesmyloveheart said is wrong your benefit doesnt continue until you first get paid if the job is over 16hrs pw. Benefit stops. Its only if its part time that continues to first pay day

Original poster

anuvaname · 19/04/2009 22:41

im currently doing a fashion and photographic make up course monday evenings which will finish soon.
AtheneNoctua- u said exactly what i was trying to say a job that pays enough. How can a job offer me enough money to pay for everything when im just going back! ahhhhhh!!
Im qualified beauty therapist only fully qualified in level 2 though but ive gone off of that career path now, wasnt really for me. Just feel like im stuck in a hole and gonna be in this position forever!

OP posts:

AtheneNoctua · 19/04/2009 22:46

I'm not sure exactly what a "beauty therapist" does, but could you offer treatments etc. in people's homes or in your home until you get back on your feet?

HappyMummyOfOne · 20/04/2009 09:30

If he is your DP and working away, you usually dont qualify for IS as he is still classed as living with you - like those in the armed forces, oil rigs etc.

If he is planning on quitting work you may find he wont qualify for any benefits as there are sanctions for leaving work. If the end of the contract, then he may get JSA but it would be a joint claim for you both rather than JSA for him and IS for you.

Tax credits may help with child care costs if you both work at least 16 hours a week and earn under the criteria but they dont help with training costs.

Original poster

anuvaname · 20/04/2009 11:49

He wasnt living with me before so thats y im n IS etc, his job contract is only for where he is so he wont have the job when he gets back

OP posts:

expatinscotland · 20/04/2009 11:53

'You are better off if you work in a low paid job and get tax credits, than if you are on benefits.'

Not true at all. You generally lose all your council tax benefit and possibly all of your housing benefit even on minimum wage, and depending on where you live, that means you live well below the poverty line after NI.

You also lose free school meals, free milk/fruit and, if you earn over the low threshold for working tax credits (about £15,000 gross/annum for a whole family), you also lose free prescriptions and dental.

It's a complete myth that you're always better off in work, that's why so many stay on benefits and I can't say I blame them.

Flibbertyjibbet · 20/04/2009 22:31

Whoops got on the wrong side of expat there!

We are better off working and getting tax credits but then we don't rent so need to keep in work or we'd lose the house.

Its obviously different for families that rent, I stand corrected.

FAQinglovely · 20/04/2009 22:32

lol Flibberty - I knew expat would be along to challenge your statement in more detail hence my rather subdued comment on it

expatinscotland · 20/04/2009 23:11

Not the wrong side, just the truth of the matter.

expatinscotland · 20/04/2009 23:14

It's something anyone on benefits really needs to think about, whilst applying for jobs or deciding on a career path, particularly if she is a lone parent and may have serious childcare issues if her child or children have a long illness or chronic illness or that sort of thing.

hotCheeseBURNS · 20/04/2009 23:16

When you start working income supports stops but you get a small grant to cover you until your first pay check. IIRC it's about £200.

twinsetandpearls · 20/04/2009 23:23

I was worse of when I returned to teaching part time, it did not take me long to make it up though. But it is a huge sometimes scary leap. I recognise as well that I was lucky to be able to walk back into a job that within a few years paid an above average salary.

Dillydaydreamer · 20/04/2009 23:40

Same here twinset, if I go back to work my childcare bill will be more than my wage but its worth it to get back to work.
Expat there is no threshold for free prescriptions and dental treatment for children so unless you have lots of dental/illness issues it shouldn't be a massive problem.

FAQinglovely · 21/04/2009 00:04

Dilly that's great if you've got someone to help you pay the bills.

But if I went back to work and all my salary and more was taken up just on the childcare what would I pay the bills with?

Agree with expats last post.

FAQinglovely · 21/04/2009 00:04

and no there's no threshold for children - but parents often need dental treatment/prescriptions too - and they soon add up even if you have no on going illnesses/problems.

expatinscotland · 21/04/2009 09:42

Dilly, I need a serious amount of dental work. But I can't afford it. Adults are people, too.

Again, for lone parents coming off benefits is particularly precarious, and they need to seek good advice when it comes to selecting a career path and/or applying for jobs.

Losing CTC and some or all of one's HB is a huge sum of money - thousands of pounds.

Losing school dinners, free milk/fruit vouchers.

If you are living very close to the poverty threshold, every penny becomes a big deal.

I'm saying don't go to work, we are a working poor family ourselves.

But we are also two of us and that makes a difference.

Dillydaydreamer · 21/04/2009 14:21

I completely agree about it being difficult with only 1 parent, however, if you earn less than a certain amount you can claim the childcare element, plus tax credits, where as I can only get vouchers tax discount, about 5% of my annual bill. DH is just above the income bracket for us not to claim, so we are also worse off if I work, until the children go to full time school.

Dillydaydreamer · 21/04/2009 14:29

If DP will be living with you from September then surely he can look after dd while you work as a mobile beautician. Advertise and build up clients to fit in when you can and then go full time once you can. If DP gets a job then look at childcare and hours to suit you both.

Original poster

anuvaname · 21/04/2009 19:37

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh so confusing in what to do! :-(

OP posts:

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