Apprenticeship & board

[HollyIvy89]

My child will be starting an apprenticeship soon and therefore I will lose my CB and as a single parent the father is not obliged to pay CM.

how much is an acceptable amount to ask the teen to contribute?

I will have a convo with the dad to ask if he can contribute anything to the continued cost of teen living with me but no idea how that convo will go. Suspect negative.

Assuming he is on minimum apprenticeship wage he will be taking home between £240 - £320 per week. Assuming he needs to spend some on travel & assuming he will be buying his own lunches I’d say £30 per week would be reasonable, rising to £50 if he gets put on a higher rate. It will still leave him with a disposable income of approx £80-150 per week which is probably more than you have.

They are saying I can only ask do board when they turn 18 later this year, do they have a point?

No.

It’s very clear that child benefit (& maintenance) stops when they start an apprentiship as they are then expected to contribute. At that age I wouldn’t charge rent as you are expected to house your child but a contribution towards the cost of food & utilities.

Yes it is more the contribution to the food and bills that I would be looking for given my monetary situation would be less. I haven’t even had a chance to think about reasonable amount they have gone mad about the mere suggestion of it!

Google tells me that CB is £26 per week, perhaps match that?

Plus £7 per week which is the minimum child maintenance.

Reality check needed then I think.

We asked ours just to cover the loss of child benefit

Id be very hurt having to pay rent age 16 and im very pro charging rent to adult children and did pay from 18. To mitigate some of the loss, id suggest they should be paying for their own things.. if they want fancy shampoos, certain food, saving for driving lessons, phones, the occasional family meal etc, but I would not be charging rent to a 16 year old unless no other choice. Paying for their own things would likely cover the child benefit amount. How much cms will you lose?

All depends how much they are earning
also I would discuss and list the cost of running a home

Will lose circa 400 and CB It’s a lot. I’m not on a high high wage but earn more than being entitled to benefits

How much will they actually be earning? Some apprenticeship are on very little, others start on like £20k per year.

14/15k

So he’ll pay a tiny bit of tax but no NI. He will be taking home just over £1k per month. That’s a hell of a lot of disposable income for a 16 year old.

Ensure his mobile phone bill is one he takes over paying
He buys clothes, trainers, hair cuts, driving lessons.

he can spend nights at his dad’s so reduces your costs if this suits you all

can you increase your hours, or are you already full time?

Difficult as they already pay an awful low themselves. I am just thinking about the lack of CM that gives the kids the same level of life they had previously. I think we shall have to cut back and we really are not extravagant by any means but the house bills will all continue to be the same won’t they. They can’t go to dads and too far to travel to work so no cost save there. It will still be cheaper and more comfortable living at home than not so surely they should contribute a little

I’d be asking £35 a week on that wage. If you need it, you need it. Would he really see you struggle?