Work situation confused!

[Chic24]

Can anyone help me? I don't understand how this works with regards to work situations etc...

So I'm due my first baby in 16 days - and will continue to get smp for 6 months. After the 6 months is up I won't have an income or a job to go back to as I was only temporary staff luckly I qualified for smp but obviously they couldn't keep my job open.

As the mum I want to stay at home for a few years and look after my baby while my partner is working. It doesn't make financial sense for us both to work with the cost of childcare! So my question is do I claim JSA or do mums not claim this ? I'm reeally confused! If you do claim it what do u say when you sign on? " Yes same as last week I'm still a mum so no work" I really don't understand if this is what happens?

Please someone fill in the blanks for me?

Thanks xxxxx

When your SMP ends you can claim Contributions based JSA for 6 months, to do this you would need to sign on every 2 weeks and be available/seeking full time work. After the 6 months though it would only continue if it was Income based JSA, your partner's income would be taken into account so you may not qualify for anything. Good Luck

I don't know how long you've been on mat leave but SMP does go on for 39 weeks.

After that if you want to go back to work and are seeking work, then you can claim JSA.

But it sounds as though you have decided you don't want to go back to work, rather than will be trying to do so?

You can't claim an allowance for jobseeking unless you are jobseeking, which you won't be.

JSA is, what, £50? £60? I may be being naive and I don't know where in teh country you live, but could you earn that amount working a few evenings cleaning offices, or in a supermarket, or at a time when dh could have the baby, so there would be no childcare costs?

I did briefly look at that after being made redundant but since DH's income was more than £20k I wasn't entitled to anything!

I dont really know much about benefits but i think the more appropriate benefit to cliam in your situation would be working famalies tax credits would it not? As jiggerypoverty said you would not be looking for a job so therefore jobseekers would not be suitable to you.

If it's just the cost of childcare that's stopping you - ie you wouldn't earn enough in a 'normal hours' job to cover a nursery or childminder, you can consider working hours that your partner is at home, some evenings or weekends or whatever.

Presumably if you wanted to do that and were actively looking for that kind of work, you may be entitled to JSA?

But if it's just you are in a position where you would prefer to stay at home, can manage on one salary (plus tax credits or whatever), and won't be looking for work, then I wouldn't have thought so.