This doesn't make sense to me - can anyone explain?

[Miaou]

Dh is not working at the moment, and is looking for work. Currently we live in a rented house, therefore as well as income support we get full housing benefit and council tax benefit.

Dh is educated to degree standard and could easily get a job paying around £15-£18k (a reasonable wage where we live). But according to his calculations, if he earned over £10,200 then we would lose so much in benefit that we would actually be worse off than we are now! In fact, unless he earned over £27,000 per year we would be worse off.

This doesn't make sense to us - basically there is no incentive to earn over the minimum wage? Have we got this right? Has anyone else found themselves in this position?

That sounds about right to me. We'd take home more each month if neither of us worked at all.

Dont know much about these things but isnt there something could working family tax credit which will boost your income. My sister on her own, working with two kids was getting near a £1000 month. Seemed like a lot to me.

Are only eligible for working tax credit for incomes up to about £14,000/pa. After that, you're on your own. Child tax credit is available, but in our case it wasn't enough to afford childcare in this city.

Lone parents are eligible for more.

Yes, dp does work and earns about £14300 but we also worked out that if he wasn't working and we were entitled to full hb and ctb we would also be better off.

As it is at the mo, we get no help with either of those things as he earns slightly too much. Basically means we are scraping by trying to make ends meet each month.

It's awful isn't it to think we'd be better of doing sod all.

Tell me about it, nutcracker! Our rent and council tax together total £7,300/pa, over 1/2 my gross income, a figure that will increase to £7,500 (at least, barring rent increase) next year w/the new council tax rise.

but you cant put a figure on
self worth,
hope, and work life ( whether you love it or hate it its better than saying "richard and judy discussed embolisms today")
self esteem,
a pension

sorry i forgot role model.
my kids dont know benefits exist. my kids do know that if they want to eat - they have to work.

Hmm. I can't afford to put away for a pension. Really can't.

I've been home on holiday and man, I've really enjoyed being around DH and DD.

But alas . . . the party's over in a few days.

We don't have pension either, well actually dp has one from a job he did for 23 years before being made redundant.

He reckons he is allwoed to get the money when he is 50. I don't really want him too but it will mean we can pay off some debts.

I don't mind so much not having any savings, it's not being able to afford food and clothes that gets too me.

My kids also realise that if you want to buy something you have to work for it , but they also know that alot of people round here do sod all and have more than us.