Pregnant and single

[Panthera5]

I need advice I have just recently found out I'm pregnant. I have a 15 months old son already and am in the process of splitting from his father. I don't know what to do about being pregnant, I work full time and can just about afford to pay for everything on my own. Is it possible to have two children (in childcare full time) whilst working and actually be able to afford it? The father wants me to get rid, but I'm late 30's so this is really my last chance but I don't want to stop working. I want to be able to give my child good things when older. If I come out of industry now, it will be impossible to get back in later in life. Help, how do I find out information about the finance.

Hello. Also pregnant and single.
Depending on employment status, you can claim working tax credits and 15 hours free childcare are entitled to free childcare no matter the situation after they are 3.
You can also ask your ex to pay maintenance and come out with a solution. If he doesn't oblige you are legally entitled to child support.
I am no expert but this much I know !

I can claim tax credits for childcare which I am doing, which is partially paying for the nursery, but work too many hours to get work tax credits. He doesn't work so is not giving me anything, I am going to apply for support, but it wont be much. Does anyone know about the childcare they are bring in for 30hrs and where that is being trialled?

Go to 'entitled to.com' and do a mock calculation based on you being single with 2 kids and see what that says, it'll give a reasonable indication of benefits etc you may be eligible for.

Salarycalcultor.com can also be useful in helping you work out what your take home pay would be if you worked part time etc.

Good luck.

As pp said visit entitled to website which will tell you what benefits you are entitled to and also the child maintainace service website to see how much maintainace your partner/ex-partner should pay

What is your housing situation? Income spent on childcare is disregarded for calculation of Housing Benefit (little-advertised fact!) so if you're renting this may be worth exploring. I earn a very reasonable salary (slightly above London median) but still get some HB as a single mother of one child (3yo) for this reason.

Not sure where the 30 hours will be piloted, but if it's the same as the 15 hours, remember this is a term time only figure so averages out to less than this over the year. 30 hours may not be the same though.

Can you claim childcare vouchers through your employer? I save about £90 a month with these (again, one child) which also makes a nice dent in the costs of nursery.

Good luck!

If you are now the only adult in the household, you can get a reduction on your council tax bill (just write to them) and its worth checking if you can get council tax benefits to make it even lower.