Mum can't afford to live

[Theamofm]

My mum and dad split 3 years ago. Before mum had a great lifestyle and had no money worries. Dad covered it. Mum worked but was only pocket money really. Mum now lives alone and works long hours and a lot of travelling. She's early 60s and it's tiring her out. She's that tired at weekends she's not going out to meet anyone, and not only that she can't really afford it. She earns enough to survive basically. Tried universal credit and she can't get it. What help is out there? We could assist a bit if it was desperate but we dont have an endless pot that could go on forever. How do other people cope? What happens when she has to stop working? It really worries me. Thanks,

Gosh. I left England when I was 23 and slim. I'm now 78 and fat. I worked in a bank for 34 years and have a reasonable pension and national insurance plus a little from England for the 5 years I worked and paid. I have no idea of what you are all talking about. How does not working help? Her rent is low. Here it's ridiculous but there it is too.
I just hope OP that you are able to work it so thar your mum manages better than now. Does your Borough not help?
Good luck. My thoughts are with you.

Because if you earn over a certain amount then the benefits younger will stop.

But if working full time is 9-5 how on earth do people do drop off and pick ups from school when they are supposed to be working whether they are wfh or not.

What you mean is WFH is do a bit of work between doing the school run, childcare, putting the laundry on etc etc

I work 8-4. People take later lunches. So instead of having lunch at 12-1, they take lunch at 3-4.

There’s flexibility at my workplace that allows to do drop offs and pick ups.

It’s not bums on seats, which is why I chose to work for them. My industry sector needs employees, they’re struggling to recruit.

I always get my work done, have had numerous praise and productivity is rock solid. I started this job in January, I’ve had nothing but positive feedback about me and my work.

Employers who stay in the stone age will struggle to recruit and retain staff, there’s too much dinosaur behaviour and boomer behaviour which isn’t productive to family life, this current generation or the future.

Boomers enjoyed staying at work, not seeing their wife’s/children, being catered to and not being flexible. Life has changed, millennials and gen x are taking over. There will be much more flexibility in coming years and I’m all for it.

And also if people didn’t do work or took the piss, they’d be pulled up on it. I have couple meetings a week about my progress, projects and what I’m working on. There’s no opportunity to slack even if I wanted to.

@anonymousxoxo I totally do get what you say and you sound incredibly diligent - but a quick look round the WFH posts show an awful lot of women posting about partners doing very little whilst WFH. (I'm not saying some were full on when in the office either- lol) so I think the idea it's well monitored everywhere isn't strictly true. To be honest if they get what they need to be done in very very short time frames it's not really a big deal either- I mention it because one guy I know did so little ( and wasn't pulled up on it) he ran a side business as well 4 hours a day in the other companies paid time. I'm all for WFH - my H has done it for 23 years but I really think it depends on the person and the job and being able to quantify what's been done- and there are sadly some people taking the piss and spoiling the great flexible opportunity for others.

And this is why we need equality today and I refuse to be a SAHM. Too many men think they need to be pampered/catered too.

The people who do little at work (and don’t get pulled up on it quickly) will eventually get pulled up on it at some point and fired.

My work is very reactive with task based tasks on a weekly basis.

One example: my job requires updating the website to highlight campaign change overs with my colleague. We have a Google Sheet with actions and my name attached next to them.

People regardless of gender need to be grateful they get to work from home, not take the piss and advantage of this.

I wouldn’t punish the majority who do well because of one bad seed. They wouldn’t pass probation and in this climate (cost of living crisis) that’s a really stupid thing to do.

@anonymousxoxo Yep it needs well managing. We work for ourselves and if we don't produce we don't earn! However it can be done totally as and when. I often for instance do my digital marketing in an evening . My son was saying that at his company they are calling back people into the office 3 days a week who seem a bit unproductive or un reactive- it's IT services though so it's easy to see if someone is sorting their 'tickets' as clients would be complaining if they didn't

Exactly! Yeah, that's true. If my work called people in more than 2 days a week, I'd be looking for a new job tbh. It's just not worth it. I want to progress higher in my career, hence why I'm really keen to get my work done and more experience

You're not expected to work 35 hours pw to claim UC, the UC is calculated on your take home salary, there is a set entitlement depending on age and whether single or couple, there is a separate amount for dependent children living with you, and the first £379 of your take home is disregarded, thereafter for every pound the total UC entitlement is reduced by 55p, you also get rent paid on production of a tenancy agreement (provided the amount falls within the local council's maximum housing allowance).
Part time work (30 hours or less) is completely reasonable, given your mum's age.