Universal credit for solo parent?

[Sam97x]

I currently have a 6 month old baby who I share with my partner. We live in our own home with a mortgage, however my partner only comes home once a month as he works down south in the Navy (we live in the north west). Because of this I am the sole carer of our baby pretty much 24/7. could i be entitled to UC once my maternity allowance stops after October? Does anyone else solo parent because their partner is in the armed forces and is entitled to anything?
Thank you

Oh there are some bitches aren’t there. A simple ‘no don’t think so’ would’ve been fine

We still haven't established whether your partner is fairly sharing his income.
You should not have £26 a week after maternity. You should have a chunk of the 2k he earns.
What is he doing with his money? Does he save everything for himself after the mortgage and bills are paid?

I really can't believe the hate women get for wanting to do the best for their child, by being their primary caregiver, which is the best thing for their development!
He really needs to be paying his wages into a joint account that you can access even when hes deployed elsewhere.
Its really not fair on you at all. You want to give your baby the best start by being fully present in these really important developmental years and witnessing her milestones.
Yes hes paying for the house and the bills that come with it, but he would be paying them regardless if he was single.
He needs to be paying for his child too.
Have you had a conversation with him about what upbringing he would like for his child and whether hes willing to support you more?

No but we will be doing. Thanks for your supportive reply :)

You've probably already seen this but just thought id share in case its useful
Benefits and concessions for the armed forces, veterans and their families - Citizens Advice https://share.google/sZBRjHUf6Sr6pRCKQ

No. Solo parenting is another terms for being a lone parent i.e. the other parent isn’t involved in the child’s life at all, has no contact and provides no financial support, so is harder than being a single parent which means you are not in a relationship with the child’s other parent but they still have some contact time with the child and/ or provide some financial support.

You live with your child’s parent who goes away for work for protracted periods but is still your partner, involved with his child and pays your mortgage and bills, and presumably provides emotional support to you and input into parenting decisions as well and spends some time with his children during his periods at home between deployments when he must be back for 1-2 months at a time?

You are not a solo parent. To an actual solo parent your question is actually quite insulting. Manage on one wage only then ask this question

Bitches? When you come here claiming you’re special and taxpayers should pay for you to have an extended maternity leave because you have a partner who works away some of the time? Many of the people funding those benefits are the only adult in their household and having to juggle work and childcare and you think they should work longer hours and see their own child less to pay the increasing levels of tax to fund people like you who could work but “would rather not” (your words). Many of those funding this are actual lone parents who have half the time per day that you and your partner have to split working and family time between you.

Meanwhile, people claiming benefits they don’t need and “looking into this” in preference to even having bothered to look for a job first is why the system is so overstretched, payments to those who do need them like the disabled are not high enough, and many people demonise those on benefits thinking they are all chancers claiming them when they don’t need them, as you are proposing to do (if you can). People doing what you are proposing - claiming benefits when you’re perfectly capable of working, as you admitted - is of the reasons taxes are so high and benefits are still at poverty level, as well as public services being dire.

Insulting people and calling them “bitches” for calling you out on this is really low. Then the whole #bekind thing.

It’s not very kind to those who need these payments and are facing cuts in them for you to claim them unnecessarily thereby reducing the money available for them and adding to the common impression that people doing so as a lifestyle choice. Neither is it kind to the working parents getting hammered with increasing tax to fund the unnecessary claims who therefore have to work longer hours to keep the same net pay in real terms for their own families that they earned before the tax hikes/ band freezing etc.

If she had posted asking about family finances and fairness, she’s have had nothing but support. That’s a totally different thing.

She posted asking about claiming single person benefits despite not being single and having financial support from her partner.

Totally different things.

I am thankfully in a much better position that I was 14 years ago but, back then, I really needed the help benefits gave me as a single parent with a 6 week old. I still had to go back to work when he was 6 months old because benefits aren’t a long term solution and I didn’t have a partner. Being able to claim as a single person is what saved us. It’s offensive for someone to claim to be a “solo parent” in terms of finances, which is what this thread was about, when she is absolutely not.

She could post asking for support in being alone with her baby, she could post asking for support over how to talk to her partner over their financial arrangement… and she’d get wonderful support and practical advice. But those aren’t the threads she posted.

There isn't a limited budget for benefits. In fact many go unclaimed.

@Sam97x

I think on his current salary you could be entitled to some UC payments. The solo parent thing isn’t relevant. He’s not got an especially high salary to allow you to stay home & not work.

I would say you might enjoy working part of the week as you might find the adult company helpful. Especially if you are on your own a lot of the time.

There isn’t a limited budget?

the UK is currently borrowing £5000 per second to add to its national debt. The national debt interest payment is now £120bn per year. For context defence spending if £56bn. Education is £94bn. The total for Local Council spending is £89bn. State pensions cost £142bn, the NHS costs £220bn.

If the country does not generate some growth soon then the bond markets will become unwilling to continue to fund this increasing level of debt at any manageable interest rate and therefore HUGE cuts will be forced. Growth has fallen for two months in a row because taxes have already been raised so much, and in counterproductive ways.

So yeah, I think you’ll find that there is a limited budget because the country can only look after its vulnerable citizens if it generates sufficient wealth to do so and currently it is not doing so and is reliant on others lending us the balance to add to our pile of debt the servicing of which is now costing us an amount approaching the cost of the state pension, and more than half as much as the cost of running the NHS.

I have not claimed I’m special once, I’ve not claimed that I ‘should’ be entitled to anything once. I simply asked if it was thing for veterans family if not, ok. I’ve been completely attacked for a simple question, most people could’ve just said ‘no you won’t’ but I’ve been absolutely hounded just for wanting to stay at home with my baby till she’s 1. The way people have gone you’d have thought I’d committed a crime.

I know. I worded it totally wrong and I’m sorry for that. I wish I could edit it to stop all the hate

Calm down. OP is likely unable to qualify anyway so chill out. I can't say anyone for blaming her for wanting more time with her baby. I would have stayed off longer if I could have.

https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/veterans-welfare-service you could ask specifically if there is anything that could be available.

So now you’re saying you should receive benefits just because of the type of job your partner does? I take it that’s why you’re now throwing the word “veterans” in there.

As a PP pointed out, many people in just as worthwhile and necessary careers work away from home for weeks or months at a time.

Your partner earns a perfectly good salary fro
what you’ve said and you’ve also said that you can get a job and arrange childcare for your child while you work like everyone else does if they have a child to support. So why are you “looking into” whether you can get benefits instead when you have stated you do not need benefits?

It’s a perfectly legitimate question and isn’t “hate” for people to ask it.

Most people would love to have more time with their children. A normal thought pattern would be to try to improve earnings/ career so that you can cut hours and still support your own family, not start “looking into” whether you can claim benefits because you’d prefer that to working. It’s incredibly entitled and as I said, this type of attitude is one of the reasons that our economy is in such a state, taxes are so high and there isn’t sufficient money to fund public services properly or provide decent welfare payments to people who actually need them, like the disabled.

Shoot me but personally I don't see any issues with children having a SAHM. On benefits or otherwise until a certain age.

Plus it isn't clear if the partner has lots of money he isn't telling her and giving her especially if she is struggling.

I haven’t said I ‘should’ get anything. Second time.

Literally just trying all my options and do the best for my baby. People could literally just say no, without trying to make me feel like the worst person in the world.

I can literally look into anything I like, as can anyone. And if it gets declined, that’s totally fine.

oh fgs, shs is very unlikely to be entitled to UC and if she is it will be because she (and her partner) have such a low level of income that the DWP decides she does deserve UC. The income levels that people need in order to qualify are so low - this constant rhetoric on here the the state is "handing out" money to undeserving people and depriving honest working folk is just disgusting.

The best thing to do for your child is to have an open and honest conversation with your partner about finances.

Exactly how much does he earn and how much does he have in savings.
Work out exactly what ALL your outgoings are.
How much is leftover for the two of you to split evenly if you stay at home?

What about if you get a job? Will you share all finances; all into one pot and all outgoings from that pot then split the rest? Or have a budget? Or split the bills and keep your own leftovers to yourselves? Will childcare bill be included in the split bills? Or does he expect you to pay that?

That’s the best thing you can do. Have a proper discussion about this, and figure out how to go forward.

A looking into what you could get as a claiming for a couple, not as a single person.

You are a couple so you would claim as a couple and his earnings would be taken into account. You may still get Uc as a couple but you are not single when you share a house together.